Trump taps Musk for 'Department of Government Efficiency': What it is and what's at risk. | Mashable.
Trump's new 'Department of Government Efficiency': What it is and what it isn't.
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| DOGE, Trump's new advisory commission, is the "atomic bomb" of conservatives' war against supposed "Big Government." Credit: Andrew Harnik / Staff / Getty Images News via Getty Images |
No one is coming out stronger from the 2024 Presidential election than X owner and billionaire Elon Musk. And that success is not just due to the potentially lucrative federal contracts he's set to snag or the legal protections Musk's ventures are taking on from his Republican alignment — he's gaining political power, too.
Announced by president-elect Donald Trump on Nov. 12, Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy — the pharmaceutical mogul and former Republican presidential hopeful — have been picked to lead a brand new agency tasked with "large scale structural reform" of the federal government. It'll be known as the "Department of Government Efficiency." (Yes, that's right, "DOGE.")
SEE ALSO:Why Elon Musk is the real winner of the 2024 US Presidential election
Trump likened the new venture to a modern Manhattan Project — the secret U.S. program that developed the atomic bomb, devastating Japanese civilian populations and changing warfare and international politics from WWII on. Under the new administration, DOGE appears to be a downsizing weapon in the war against "corruption" in the administrative state, helmed by what Ramaswamy and Musk call "a band of small-government revolutionaries."
But what exactly will this meme-mandated agency do under the new administration, and what will a more "efficient" government under Musk look like?
What will the 'Department of Government Efficiency' do?
Though its name suggests otherwise, the "Department of Government Efficiency" isn't a department at all, but rather a commission or advisory body consulting with the president on spending and regulations. While Congress retains oversight of large budgetary actions, advisory groups like DOGE can advise members under the Federal Advisory Committee Act, and both Trump and Musk have said the agency would have the power to make some cuts.
Musk also claimed the agency would retain a publicly accessible scoreboard of its cuts, open for feedback, and a leaderboard of "most insanely dumb spending" of tax dollars. "The entertainment value will be epic," he said.
DOGE's streamlining plans, helmed by the private sector, aren't a new concept for the federal government, nor is the notion of outside advisors aiding in the implementation of a president's vision, including Trump's "Save America" plan, unprecedented. The executive branch's current Office of Management and Budget (OMB) is tasked with managing and coordinating the president's policy, budget, and regulatory objectives. Trump's picks, however, have been pegged to bring an "entrepreneurial approach" to government at an unprecedented scale, working alongside the OMB to make the government "smaller," according to the president-elect.
In Trump's words, this involves "dismantling government bureaucracy, slashing excess regulations, cutting wasteful expenditures, and restructuring federal agencies." In the announcement, the president-elect said the DOGE's work would last through July 4, 2026. Ramaswamy has said the pseudo-department's first task will be "crowdsourcing examples of government waste, fraud, and abuse" from Americans at large.
The department's announcement has been met with a mix of support and derision from both parties. "I’m a Democrat for Government Efficiency," posted Democratic Minnesota congressman Dean Phillips, in support of the announcement. Ramaswamy responded: "Welcome aboard to Americans for Government Efficiency!" Massachusetts senator Elizabeth Warren was more critical, swiping at the fact that DOGE will have two executives leading it. “The Office of Government Efficiency is off to a great start with split leadership: two people to do the work of one person,” Warren said. “Yeah, this seems REALLY efficient.”
What is on the 'DOGE' chopping block?
The agency continues the regulatory shedding that became a beacon of Trump's previous presidential term, which targeted federal safety regulations, climate policy, and even space exploration. Boosted by Musk and Ramaswamy's own gusto for "streamlining" workforces (aka laying people off), most recently modeled under Musk's takeover of X/Twitter, the conservative shrinking is set to begin again.
Slashing of federal agencies
During his first term, Trump tried and failed to downsize more than a dozen federal agencies. Past comments from both Musk and Ramaswamy show an eagerness to carry on his mission and hit agencies first. Musk has previously said he would like to cut the number of agencies down from 400 to a striking 99.
Ramaswamy has previously alluded to the dismantling of the FBI, the the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives; the Nuclear Regulatory Commission; the Department of Agriculture's Food and Nutrition Service; and, to mass outcry, the Department of Education. He's also said he would limit the power of the Federal Reserve.
A major part of the Trump campaign's goals, Musk has also publicly posted about eliminating the Department of Education, which he says isn't "great value for money."
Budget cuts and federal employee layoffs
The Trump administration has made a big show of supporting federal spending cuts, with Musk adding to the budget austerity cries with claims that he would help trim the federal spending by $2 trillion. Musk has since reposted several X threads positing examples of "ridiculous" spending, which include several public health campaigns and federal science grants.
In his own presidential campaign, Ramaswamy promised to cut 75 percent of the civilian federal workforce — or 1.7 million jobs — in order to diminish federal spending and trim waste.
Clearing of federal regulations
DOGE's leaders have both spoken out about loosening the chokehold of federal regulations within the last 24 hours.
"The world is suffering slow strangulation by overregulation. Every year, the noose tightens a little more. We finally have a mandate to delete the mountain of choking regulations that do not serve the greater good," said Musk in a recent X post.
Ramaswamy cited several U.S. Supreme Court decisions in a claim that "eliminating bureaucratic regulations isn’t a mere policy preference. It’s a legal mandate."
Musk, owner of transportation companies Tesla and SpaceX, has previously taken issue with the regulatory power of the Federal Aviation Administration and National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Ramaswamy, founder of pharmaceutical company Roivant Sciences, called the Food and Drug Administration's "regulations hypocritical, harmful, and unconstitutional."
In a statement issued Wednesday, American Federation of Government Employees National President Everett Kelley said, "Budget cuts of this magnitude, coupled with the massive tax reductions Trump has said he will implement, will affect vital programs that tens of millions of Americans currently rely on for their financial security and their health and safety. This includes Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, food assistance for low-income families, veterans’ benefits and health care, and so much more,"
"To really attack government waste, the administration should target private contractors who are price gouging American taxpayers to deliver poorer service at higher cost while their corporate profits and executive pay skyrocket."
Topics Social Good Elon Musk Government Politics
Hell yeah. Go Elon Go! We support you!
ReplyDeleteI hope only the folks that voted for this will pay for it.
ReplyDeleteWith the end goal of filling the pockets of the rich at the expense of the rest.. zero surprises here.
ReplyDeleteThe Manhattan Project was impossibly destructive, so I imagine their comparison will prove to be correct.
ReplyDeletecentered on our capitol. Dear God.
Deleteso efficient, they need 2, makes sense. It's a waste and will cost more.
ReplyDeleteOh dear God.
ReplyDeleteA joke.
ReplyDeleteTO THE MOON! 🚀
ReplyDeleteMusk and Ramaswamy will be the scapegoats for when the administration cuts what it wants and then blames it on a lack of "efficiency."
ReplyDeleteAnyone notice it's called DOGE which is a crypto currency too hmmm smells like Musk all over it
ReplyDeleteyes, and US early investors, since 2019 are now millionaires
Deletenothing wrong with currency just pointed out the similarities
Deletenot hating brother
DeleteNo just liberals don't think they are accountable to the taxpayers
ReplyDeleteLook at kamala didn't think she was accountable to her supporters. 1 billion dollars gone. 1 million to Opra a billionaire. 500k to Al sharpton.
ReplyDeleteEXACTLY
DeleteThis is great. It’s about time the wild and unaccountable spending gets reigned in! BRAVO!!!
ReplyDelete❤
ReplyDeleteHere come the clowns
ReplyDeleteThis going to be 🔥🔥
ReplyDeleteD
ReplyDeleteO
G
E
The hammer of justice is coming ⚒️
DeleteYeah like those small banks that failed
ReplyDeleteNo regulations
I don't hate these ideas. Let's see how they pan out.
ReplyDeleteDummmmmmmmb s)(it
DeleteIs Musk doing this full time or is it a hobby for him besides the other companies he have.
ReplyDeleteHe's allegedly a top ranked Diablo player.
DeleteThere are apparently some spare CPU cycles left.
This just blows my mind. It has to be a 4+ hour a day time suck. Then you add the constant tweeting. Doesn’t all add up.
DeleteIt adds up. The higher up a person goes the less "work" they need do. Employees right up to middle managers get paid commensurate to the amount of actual WORK they do. From director level up, they are paid for the decisions they make. It takes far less time to make those decisions than it does to carry out the plans. Bezos had a famously "light" schedule after building Amazon up for that very reason. He believed that his job was to make a few extremely high quality decisions. Most of the C-Suite people that constantly work do so because their ego requires it. They are the ones that no one likes due to them becoming micro managers. It's the only way they can find enough to do to justify them always having their noses in everything.
DeleteYes definitely. I am generally not a fan of workaholic top leaders, as I feel that at that level there should be plenty of subordinates to manage the smaller stuff so that the top leaders have a relatively light schedule. I’d rather they keep their brains fresh so that when they have to make the few critical decisions they are at optimal capacity. A lot of these high level decisions rely significantly on intuition and emotional/mental calmness, and an overworked person just won’t be able to function as optimally.
DeleteMusk seems to have a very intimate knowledge of the inner workings of all his companies though. Like he'll go from talking about Neuralink and the challenges/successes they've had, then jump to SpaceX, then to Tesla. I remember a YouTube video where a fan got to interview Musk at SpaceX, and while they were starring at a rocket, the fan said something like "why don't you use the exhaust from the command module to steer the main body?" Musk paused for a few seconds while he thought it over and was like, "you know, that's a really good idea - we hadn't thought of that" and the next iteration of the ship had that change. Having that detailed level of knowledge about how all your products work with only so many waking hours of the day is unique.
DeleteNote: I am definitely getting the components in the rocket ship wrong.
Don't you need 60 votes in the Senate to be an actual department?
ReplyDeleteThis just seems like a psuedo department where Musk will make "recommendations."
You know what I was thinking the federal government needs? Another f’ing bureau with an ill defined mandate that makes random recommendations and then peaces out. Grift grift grift.
DeleteHow is it efficient to have two people lead a single department?
ReplyDeleteWorked out for Michael Scott and Jimothy when they were co-managers
DeleteThere's a whole plot line where that explicitly didn't work lol
DeleteYes, let's put someone with $15+ billion in government contracts in charge of government spending and efficiency. Conflicts of interest don't exist anymore, I guess.
ReplyDeleteYou mean you can't drain swamp by adding more billionaires into the governmental positions of power?
DeleteI literally can’t imagine a better example of the Deep State these guys and their voters supposedly hate.
DeleteSo, so many conflicts of interest just waiting to happen. 🤦♂️
ReplyDeleteTrump administration doesn't care, but he isn't going to make this an actual government department because he doesn't want laws and the Dems to interfere with the department.
DeleteDems can’t interfere right now, so I don’t know why that would be a deterrent. This is all on MAGA/GOP/Conservatives. Sink or swim.
DeleteFilibuster? Plus with the GOP’s slim majority in the House, all it takes is a few angry republicans to cause problems
DeleteExamples?
DeleteDT and his clown car.
ReplyDeleteIt's very important as a holder or investor to always make sure you read and follow the market predictions to make sure you secure a good portfolio then you can be able to set up a trade and having it in mind to make profit back from your capital with the signals and indicators from Rush Derrick Nick
ReplyDeletelol well, it will be nuclear for America, so the Manhattan Project fits. Sure would have been nice if America could have realized before the election these wild appointments aren’t misguided attempts at better government. Bush brought down the USSR from the inside, using Boris Yeltsin. Trump is Putin’s puppet meant to destroy American unity and institutional dominance. Putin gets world domination and Trump gets more power and money than anyone can fathom.
ReplyDeleteI love to see the salty liberals cry.
ReplyDeleteIt should be clear that this new Department of Government Efficiency for Musk isn't actually about "efficiency." It's simply a quid-pro-quo riddled with conflicts of interest.
ReplyDeleteAnything and everything will always be for sale under Trump. Musk is just the latest person to take advantage of this.
We should no more want the government to be run like a business than a business to be run like the government; “efficiency” in the private sector means profit.
DeleteThe problem in a nutshell, is that not everything that is profitable is of social value and not everything of social value is profitable.
the Republicans (and most Americans) don't understand doing something for a greater good, so social value means nothing to them.
Deletethis is it in a nutshell. Their worldview is “we’re cheating everyone to make a profit, so everyone else must be too”. The concept that some people try to do the right thing if completely foreign to them
Deletevery true. This works the same way in a successful productive happy life....we work and do things to earn income but we also take time out to help others, enjoy families and friends, enjoy thing we are interested in and spend money in a balance. We also invest time ,actions and money to hopefully insure a future for ourselves and others that will follow.
DeleteWell said. Thank you.
DeleteWhen I heard of Department of Government Efficiency, my first thought was Department of Cutting Corners.
ReplyDeleteNot corners. Department of Cutting Social Security and Medicare.
DeleteMassive deregulation which in turn hurts the working class on down.
DeleteExactly. I wonder how much of the vetting and training processes will be cut for the number of ICE agents needed to execute the mass deportation plan. It horrifies to think of the abuse of power that will ensue.
DeleteSo did I! I still strive not to believe the left-wing media hype. I stopped attending Americans United Orange County, CA Chapter (AU-OC) after their July 2024 monthly meeting.
DeleteNo matter what happens, I won’t blame the president-elect. I will blame those who are puppeting him. The Heritage Foundation are the true extremists. Project 2025 is their publication. Forbes claims another conservative think tank, America First Policy Institute, will have more influence on the incoming administration. I find their policy proposals equally as repugnant but easier to live with than those outlined in Project 2025.
but spelled with “k.” Me too.
Deletesame thougt!
DeleteRiiight.
DeleteBecause the government is in any way efficient.🙄
I didn’t claim the government is efficient. I have concerns about corners being cut in areas such as vetting and training the number of ICE agents who will be needed for the mass deportation process, etc.
DeleteI can’t wait to see them lock horns. Trump will claim he never heard of Musk and, anyhow, he has more money then Musk.
ReplyDeletethey won't lock horns...they're in lock step.
Deleteuntil one gets too big for the other’s britches.
DeleteConflict of Interest never applies to 45 or his cronies.
ReplyDeletetrump already fixing the college system with his FREE college level education 🫡😍 this is exactly why we needed a businessman in office
DeleteYes it’s all still making me sick ! My country is a mess ! I don’t like what I’m seeing and smelling. This is so crooked , how in gods name could we have allowed this. Our past presidents, etc are rolling around in their graves. Worked so hard to make us strong and now we are the weakest link !
ReplyDeletewho worked so hard? Lmao.
DeleteRussia. Your hair looks appropriate.
DeleteWe wouldn't have this issue with effective civil service exams
ReplyDeleteRemember how good we were as kids? The baby boom generation is the last generation to grow up when the American dream was alive and well. The current state of our country is not the America I want to pass on to my children and grandchildren. And I doubt it's the country you want your children to grow up in.
DeleteThis is what happens when you vote to let the presidency be bought by millionaires and sell yourself into modern day slavery.
ReplyDeleteIf you are chained to a mortgage, a car loan and credit card debt all yourself when you will ever be free from debt
Delete"For secretary of defense, Trump has tapped Fox News Channel host Pete Hegseth, a combat veteran and host of the weekend edition of Fox & Friends, a show Trump reportedly enjoys.
ReplyDelete"The Associated Press reported that the news that Trump has tapped the inexperienced Hegseth to run the world’s largest and most powerful military “stunned the Pentagon and the broader defense world.” While some Republicans say they look forward to getting to know him better, others appear to share the Pentagon’s concerns."
Not sure that Musk the Recall Man should have a government position.
ReplyDeletenot your choice sweetheart
Deletedid you not hear her say it's not a goverment job?
Deleteso let's keep buying 800 dollar soap dispensers then
DeleteThe problem? Too much gubmint. His solution? A new gubmint department.
ReplyDeleteEXACTLY
DeleteSo MORE GOVERNMENT, not less, will make it more efficient?🤷🤔
ReplyDeleteNeither are qualified
ReplyDeleteThe richest man on the planet knows nothing about efficiency?
DeleteSOLD. AMERICA UNDER NEW SALES LEADERS AND THEY ARE SLASHING PRICES FOR THE ULTRA RICH
ReplyDeleteWhat a joke.
ReplyDeleteWhat a joke
ReplyDeleteWe need a 20% reduction in government employees the first year of the new Trump administration‼️
ReplyDeleteDuring the big crypto craze I bought $500 worth of doge was never able to withdrawal my money when it had reached over three times that amount when it accrued when I was able to I had lost 400 of it. Don't put your money in something that's not guaranteed of at least a withdraw if you're not happy 
ReplyDeleteTrump named 2 people to co-run the new Dept of Govt “Efficiency.”
ReplyDeleteAnyone else see the humor (and idiocy) in him naming TWO people to do this ONE JOB in the “EFFICIENCY” dept???
He could cut the money to Israel and Ukraine first...then he can clean anybody else
ReplyDeleteTwo American millionaires, imagine that! Surprised? Look at Putin and Kim, they surround themselves with 💰. Similarities? That's where our country is headed. Putin and Kim have been mentoring tRump on how to take over a country. Surround yourself with money 💰 and yes sir people. They don't follow, they get fired or disappear.
ReplyDeleteTHIS IS WHAT AMERICAN WANTS! CUT WASTE OF THE FEDERAL GOVT! YES!
ReplyDeleteWhile the president manages the conduct of executive branch offices, "it is Congress, not the President, that establishes departments and agencies, and to whatever degree it chooses, the internal organization of agencies".
ReplyDeleteSo, how you know Musk and Ramaswamy have your best interests at heart?
ReplyDeleteDidn’t Ramaswamy make his money by using his company to hint at producing a promising medicine, jacking up the price before it even was approved, then getting out before anything materialized? You know, the old pump and dump.
A great start is to stop cutting taxes to corporations. is bilionar Musk do this? How do you think? All will gain in efficiency and welfare
"Congress’s authority to establish offices is limited by the terms of the Appointments Clause." Congress
ReplyDeleteBitcoin's surge, fueled by President-elect Trump's pro-crypto stance, has paused as investors weigh market implications.
ReplyDeleteHope and wish the International Criminal Court The Hague allowed to have the freedom and right to go after Donald Trump and JD Vance as the only one true last resort in the event Donald Trump and JD Vance decides to completely abandon Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Ukraine by choosing to commit acts of treason and espionage by allowing Vladimir Putin and Russia leeway the freedom and right to have total supreme dominance over Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Ukraine by allowing Vladimir Putin and Russia leeway the freedom and right to have total control of Ukraine away from Volodymyr Zelenskyy completely permanently forever.
ReplyDeleteHope and wish the International Criminal Court The Hague allowed to have the freedom and right to go after Donald Trump and JD Vance as the only one true last resort in the event Donald Trump and JD Vance decides to completely abandon Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Ukraine by choosing to commit acts of treason and espionage by allowing Vladimir Putin and Russia leeway the freedom and right to have total supreme dominance over Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Ukraine by allowing Vladimir Putin and Russia leeway the freedom and right to have total control of Ukraine away from Volodymyr Zelenskyy completely permanently forever.
ReplyDeleteJack Smith likely not be afraid to call and contact the International Criminal Court The Hague in an instant heartbeat if Donald Trump were to completely dare by choosing to commit acts of treason and espionage by allowing Vladimir Putin and Russia leeway the freedom and right to have total supreme dominance over Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Ukraine by allowing Vladimir Putin and Russia leeway the freedom and right to have total control of Ukraine away from Volodymyr Zelenskyy completely permanently forever as Jack Smith already has ties and connections to the International Criminal Court The Hague.
Donald Trump truly be the one most a lot at risk of being force to wind up with a arrest warrant and be prosecuted by the International Criminal Court The Hague in the future due to having ties with Benjamin Netanyahu and Vladimir Putin in the past as President Of The United States Of America and also the International Criminal Court The Hague already currently has a arrest warrant for Benjamin Netanyahu and Vladimir Putin right now.
Hope and wish the International Criminal Court The Hague is monitoring Donald Trump/JD Vance victory very really seriously closely right now.
Only 20% of those Federal workers are back in offices. They are home watching TV instead of working. Bye Bye.
ReplyDeleteThe hammer of justice is coming ⚒️
ReplyDelete