Tesla CEO Elon Musk is to officially join Trump’s administration as the co-head of the new US Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), a second federal department designed to improve government spending.
Throughout the elections, Musk, already CEO of Tesla and SpaceX and the de facto head of X, xAI, Neuralink, and the Boring Company, has been a vigorous sponsor and advocate of Trump. Meanwhile, he floated the idea of joining Trump’s administration to lead a new department to make the federal government more efficient.
He has been calling it the “Department of Government Efficiency,” which spells out ‘DOGE’, a meme that Musk appears to enjoy. Perhaps he is referring to the leaders of the once-existing city-state of Venice.
Trump now appears to be proceeding with this idea. He announced the new department and Musk as its head, along with Vivek Ramaswamy, in a statement today: “I am pleased to announce that the Great Elon Musk, working in conjunction with American Patriot Vivek Ramaswamy, will lead the Department of Government Efficiency (‘DOGE’).”
He added: “Together, these two wonderful Americans will pave the way for my Administration to dismantle Government Bureaucracy, slash excess regulations, cut wasteful expenditures, and restructure Federal Agencies – Essential to the “Save America” Movement. “This will send shockwaves through the system and anyone involved in Government waste, which is a lot of people!”
Redundant
What’s most ironic is that a federal department already cuts government waste and ensures efficiency: the Government Accountability Office (GAO). The GAO’s main objectives are auditing agency operations to determine whether federal funds are being spent efficiently and effectively, investigating allegations of illegal and improper activities, reporting on how well government programs and policies are meeting their objectives, performing policy analyses and outlining options for congressional consideration, issuing legal decisions and opinions, and advising Congress and the heads of executive agencies about ways to make government more efficient and effective.
It sounds similar to what Musk described when talking about his ‘DOGE’, but Trump hasn’t gone into many details other than saying it will “cut waste”. A redundant department to reduce redundancy. Sounds like Kafka or the beginning of a Monty Python sketch.
The new ‘Manhattan Project’
Trump also said that DOGE would help the government drive large-scale structural reform. “It will potentially become “The Manhattan Project” of our time. The Manhattan Project was a massive and expensive research and development program undertaken during World War II to produce the first nuclear weapons.
“Republican politicians have dreamed about the objectives of ‘DOGE’ for a very long time,” Trump concluded. “To drive this kind of drastic change, the Department of Government Efficiency will provide advice and guidance from outside Government, partner with the White House and Office of Management & Budget to drive large-scale structural reform and create an entrepreneurial approach to Government never seen before.”
The statement also noted that DOGE will only operate until July 4th, 2026. Musk claimed he could cut at least $2 trillion of the $6.5 trillion US federal budget. Most experts are convinced there is no $2 trillion in discretionary spending to cut, so the claim is impossible.
Rebel with a cause
Elon Musk has always cultivated a ‘rebel’ image. With Tesla, he confronted traditional car companies with their weaknesses; his statements were often very provocative. Formerly a supporter of Barack Obama, he has now vigorously supported Trump, and his libertarian and, at the same time, autocratic visions match well with those of the new president-elect. As do the frequent fake news allegations he’s spreading via his own social media channel X, formerly Twitter.
It is clear that when the ‘richest man on earth’ (Forbes) is now also at the wheel of the government, this will benefit all his companies. Trump, who has always been a ‘petrol head’ defending the old-school US car industry, is now suddenly into electric cars. Other changes of views will undoubtedly follow.
Undoubtedly, all other companies of the eccentric billionaire will benefit from their boss’s proximity to political power. Meanwhile, the rest of the world should perhaps be concerned about a guy accumulating so much financial and now also political power who has admitted he suffers from Asperger syndrome, takes drugs, and uses ketamine to counter his depression. Together with Trump, they form a ‘nice couple’.
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