President-elect Donald Trump has not forgotten two of his most prominent supporters, Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, announcing on Tuesday (12) that they will lead what he called the ‘Department of Government Efficiency’.
According to Trump, the new department aims to drive ‘drastic changes’ throughout the federal bureaucracy by July 4, 2026.
“A smaller government, with more efficiency and less bureaucracy, will be the perfect gift for America on the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence,” Trump wrote in a statement. “I am confident they will succeed!”
Musk said before the election that he would help Trump cut $2 trillion from the federal budget, but did not provide further details on how he would do this or which parts of the government would be cut or restructured.
“This will send shockwaves through the system and anyone involved in government waste, which is a lot of people!” Musk said in a statement.
Trump’s statement about the new department did not address how Musk will carry out this task without creating conflicts of interest, given that his company, SpaceX, has secured over $10 billion in federal contracts over the past decade.
SpaceX, Tesla, and other companies Musk has created, such as Neuralink, which manufactures computer chips that are implanted in the brain, have also recently been targets in at least 20 investigations by federal agencies. Will Musk somehow be monitoring the agencies that police his own companies from this new department?
Cutting regulations and government spending has become one of Musk’s top priorities as his frustrations have grown, especially this year, with what he considers ‘excessive or redundant oversight from the Federal Aviation Administration and the Department of the Interior,’ as SpaceX sought permits to continue testing its newest rocket, the Starship.
Trump’s statement only said that this new department would ‘provide advice and guidance from outside the government,’ suggesting that Musk will not take on a formal role as a federal employee.
Elimination of the Department of Education
Alongside Musk will be Ramaswamy, a 39-year-old political newcomer, who ran against Trump for the Republican nomination before dropping out and becoming a fervent supporter of Trump.
As part of his message, Ramaswamy promised to help fulfill Trump’s pledge to cut government spending. He proposed immediately eliminating the Department of Education, the FBI, and the Internal Revenue Service by executive order. He said the federal workforce should be cut by 75% in a mass layoff. He also stated that he would cut the aid that the United States provides to nations like Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan.
Promises of government reform are nothing new in Washington. But the ideas of these two successful entrepreneurs are particularly interesting to follow.
Source: The New York Times