President-elect Donald Trump has appointed billionaire Elon Musk to lead the newly created Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) aiming to combat bureaucracy and slash regulations and spending.
Despite the name, the department will not be a government agency. Trump said in a statement that Musk and former Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy will work from outside the government.
The Department will offer the White House “advice and guidance” and will partner with the Office of Management and Budget to “drive large-scale structural reform, and create an entrepreneurial approach to government never seen before.” He added that the move would shock government systems.
Trump said the duo “will pave the way for my administration to dismantle government bureaucracy, slash excess regulations, cut wasteful expenditures, and restructure federal agencies”.
Musk pledges to fight “dumb spending”
Posting on X, the social media platform he owns, Musk pledged to document all actions of the department online for “maximum transparency”.
“Anytime the public thinks we are cutting something important or not cutting something wasteful, just let us know!” he said, while also promise to keep “a leaderboard for most insanely dumb spending of your tax dollars”.
Ramaswamy also responded to the announcement of his appointment on X. “We will not go gently, @elonmusk”, he said, adding an American flag emoji.
Musk had pushed for a government efficiency department and has since relentlessly promoted it, emphasizing the acronym for the agency: Doge, a reference to a meme of an expressive Shiba Inu and the name of the cryptocurrency Dogecoin, which Musk promotes.
Trump said the agency will be conducting a “complete financial and performance audit of the entire federal government, and making recommendations for drastic reforms”.
The value of dogecoin has more than doubled since election day, tracking a surge in cryptocurrency markets on expectations of a softer regulatory ride under a Trump administration. Shares in Tesla are up about 30 percent since the election.
Apart form Musk names tipped for Trump administration
Trump’s administration is starting to take shape after his win in last week’s presidential election. His Republican Party is closing in on full control of Congress. They have won back control of the Senate, the upper chamber, and they are inching towards a majority in the House, the lower chamber, as vote counting continues.
US media have tipped Florida Senator Marco Rubio as the frontrunner for the post of Secretary of State in Donald Trump’s cabinet.
Stephen Miller, last seen in public declaring that “America is for Americans and Americans only” at Trump’s seething Madison Square Garden rally, is expected to be named as White House deputy chief of staff for policy.
Two sources have confirmed to CBS that military veteran Michael Waltz is the favorite for Trump’s national security adviser.
Related: How Elon Musk Became a Powerful Figure in US Politics