Trump picks Musk, Ramaswamy to run new dept of govt efficiency and trim bureaucracy

Donald Trump has asked Elon Musk, the world's richest man who is also his campaign donor and adviser, and Vivek Ramaswamy, the Indian-origin Republican presidential aspirant turned supporter, to offer advice on how to slash and restructure the US federal government.

- Prashant Jha

In a statement on Tuesday evening eastern time (Wednesday morning IST), Trump said that the "great" Musk, "working in conjunction" with the "American patriot" Ramaswamy, will lead the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE.

"Together these two wonderful Americans will pave the way for my administration to dismantle government bureaucracy, slash excess regulations, cut wasteful expenditure, and restructure federal agencies," Trump said, terming it the Manhattan Project of these times. He said the department will wrap up its work by July 4, 2026. "A smaller government, with more efficiency and less bureaucracy, will be the perfect gift to America on the 250th anniversary of The Declaration of Independence."

Trump said that DOGE will "provide advice and guidance from outside the government" but it will work closely with White House and the Office of Management and Budget to "drive large scale structural reform and create an entrepreneurial approach to Government never seen before".

Ironically, the name of the cryptocurrency that Musk has championed since for several years now is also Doge, short for Dogecoin, named as a joke when it was set up in 2013.

Ramaswamy is a Harvard-and Yale-educated lawyer turned entrepreneur who shot into national prominence during the Republican presidential primaries in 2023. Positioning himself as an "America First" candidate, Musk withdrew after coming fourth in the Iowa primary in January this year and threw his weight behind Trump.

A university classmate of Vice President elect JD Vance and his wife Usha, Ramaswamy was a top media surrogate for Trump during the campaign, drew praise from President-elect for his eloquence, and laid out his intellectual position as one of national libertarianism.