President-elect Donald Trump said Tuesday that Elon Musk and former GOP presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy will lead the new “Government Efficiency Administration” — which, despite its name, is not a government agency.
The abbreviation “DOGE” stands for Musk’s favorite cryptocurrency, dogecoin. Musk and Ramaswamy will work outside government to provide “advice and guidance” to the White House and will partner with the Office of Management and Budget to “advance broad structural reform and create an entrepreneurial approach to government,” Trump said in a statement. “It has never been seen before.” He added that this move would shock government systems.
https://x.com/elonmusk/status/1856502787930050927
It is not clear how the organization will operate. This could come under the Federal Advisory Committee Act, which sets out how outside groups that advise the government and are accountable to the public operate.
Federal employees are generally required to disclose their assets and entanglements to stave off any potential conflicts of interest, and to liquidate significant holdings related to their work. Because Musk and Ramaswamy will not be official federal employees, they will not face those ethical requirements or restrictions.
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“Government Efficiency Administration. The item will be (fire emoji),” Musk posted on X. He later added: “A threat to democracy? No, a threat to bureaucracy!!!”
Musk has been a constant presence at the Mar-a-Lago resort since Trump won the presidential election.
The president-elect has often said he would give Musk a formal role overseeing a group similar to a blue-ribbon commission that will recommend ways to cut spending and make the federal government more efficient. Musk at one point suggested he could find more than $2 trillion in savings — roughly a third of total annual government spending.
Trump has made clear that Musk will likely not hold a full-time position, given his other commitments.
“I don’t think I can hire him full time because he’s a little busy sending missiles and all the things he’s doing,” Trump said at a rally in Michigan in September. “He said the waste in this country is crazy. And we’ll let Elon Musk be our cost-cutter.
Ramaswamy suspended his election campaign in January and threw his support to Trump.
Trump said in his statement that the two “will pave the way for my administration to dismantle government bureaucracy, reduce redundant regulations, cut wasteful expenditures, and restructure federal agencies.”
& Edition 2024 The Canadian Press
