10
Loading video...
By Kaitlin Lewis
Night Reporter
0
Share
Newsweek is a Trust Project member
See more of our trusted coverage when you search.Prefer Newsweek on Googleto see more of our trusted coverage when you search.
President-elect Donald Trump announced on Tuesday that his second administration will create the Department of Government Efficiency, led by Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy.
Trump, who won a second term in the White House last week, in a statement on Truth Social said that the department "will pave the way for my Administration to dismantle Government Bureaucracy, slash excess regulations, cut wasteful expenditures, and restructure Federal Agencies."
"I look forward to Elon and Vivek making changes to the Federal Bureaucracy with an eye on efficiency and, at the same time, making life better for all Americans," Trump added.
Read More on U.S.
Details of the new department, which Trump abbreviated as DOGE, are fairly unknown. Trump said in his statement that the department will not be a federal agency but will provide guidance "outside of government" by partnering with the White House and Office of Management and Budget "to drive large scale structural reform, and create an entrepreneurial approach to Government never seen before."
While on the campaign trail, Trump had touted giving Musk, the billionaire CEO of Tesla and SpaceX who threw millions of dollars into supporting Trump's campaign, a spot in his administration. During a speech at the Economic Club of New York in September, Trump said that he planned to "create a government efficiency commission" at the "suggestion" of Musk.
At the time, in a post to X, formerly Twitter, Musk responded: "I look forward to serving America if the opportunity arises. No pay, no title, no recognition is needed."
...
Musk said on Tuesday that "[a]ll actions of the Department of Government Efficiency will be posted online for maximum transparency."
"Anytime the public thinks we are cutting something important or not cutting something wasteful, just let us know!" he added in the post to X. "We will also have a leaderboard for most insanely dumb spending of your tax dollars. This will be both extremely tragic and extremely entertaining."
Ramaswamy—who ran for the 2024 GOP presidential nominee before dropping out and endorsing Trump in January—on Tuesday responded to Trump's announcement on X, writing, "We will not go gently, @elonmusk."
He added in a separate post that he was "withdrawing myself from consideration" to potentially fill Vice President-elect JD Vance's Senate seat in Ohio. GOP Ohio Governor Mike DeWine is tasked with appointing someone to fill Vance's seat until a special election in 2026.
Ramaswamy made slashing government spending a key part of his presidential run, including vows to cut the FBI, Department of Education and Nuclear Regulatory Commission if elected to office. Trump has also floated the idea of closing the Department of Education.
Newsweek reached out to Trump's campaign via email Tuesday evening for further comment.
What is the DOGE meme?
According to the Know Your Meme website, the Doge meme features a Shiba Inu in photos that may be photoshopped to alter the dog's expression or captioned with interior monologues written in Comic Sans font. The primary meme and iconography associated with Doge center around a Shiba Inu named Kabosu, whose photos were taken by her owner Atsuko Sato in early 2010 and subsequently went viral on the internet.
President-elect Donald Trump is assembling members of his cabinet for his second term. Follow Newsweek's live blog for updates.**
The site also notes that the use of the intentionally misspelled word "doge" to refer to a dog dates back to June 24, 2005, when it was mentioned in an episode of Homestar Runner's puppet show.
Kobusu, who died at her home in Japan in May, became the face of the logo of the Dogecoin cryptocurrency in 2013. Musk is a fan of the doge meme and Dogecoin. Last year, Musk temporarily changed the logo of X, the social network formerly known as Twitter, to the Dogecoin icon.
What did Elon Musk say about the position?
On the campaign trail, Musk pledged to identify "at least $2 trillion in cuts" in government spending as part of a review of federal agencies.
On September 21, he wrote on X: "Federal government spending will bankrupt the country, unless action is taken to reduce government waste. This is what causes inflation!"
However, Musk also agreed with a post arguing that his federal review would risk a "severe overreaction in the economy" causing financial markets to "tumble," but that they would later improve. Musk wrote in response: "Sounds about right."
What did Vivek Ramaswamy say about the position?
Ramaswamy has vowed to implement a "massive downsizing" of the U.S. government after being appointed to lead Donald Trump's new Department of Government Efficiency.
Writing on X, formerly Twitter, Ramaswamy said: "Over the last 2 years, the Supreme Court has ruled that the administrative state is behaving in wildly unlawful ways. But slapping the bureaucracy on the wrist won't solve the problem, the only right answer is a massive downsizing."
In another post, Ramaswamy added: "DOGE will soon begin crowdsourcing examples of government waste, fraud, & and abuse. Americans voted for drastic government reform & they deserve to be part of fixing it."
Update: 11/13/24, 11:20 a.m.: This article has been updated with more information.
View 0 Comments
Submit Correction
View Editorial & AI Guidelines