The arrangement Trump has in mind may allow Musk to avoid resigning from his companies. - AFP
On the campaign trail, Trump said the government efficiency effort would develop a plan to eliminate "fraud and improper payments,” conducting a "complete financial and performance audit” of the federal government.
On Tuesday, Trump said the panel would partner with the White House’s Office of Management and Budget and said their work will conclude no later than July 4, 2026 - the nation’s 250th anniversary.
The structure may allow Musk to avoid resigning from his companies including Tesla Inc., the world’s largest electric vehicle manufacturer, and SpaceX, which dominates the worldwide rocket launch market - and federal conflict-of-interest rules that could have mandated divestiture.
But it’s not clear what the size or structure will be, or how Musk and Ramaswamy will drive the dramatic overhaul of the government they’ve promised.
The effort, which abbreviates to DOGE, is a play on one of Musk’s favourite Internet memes, and Musk has been an advocate of the digital token Dogecoin.
In a post to his social media network X, he said "All actions of the Department of Government Efficiency will be posted online for maximum transparency. Anytime the public thinks we are cutting something important or not cutting something wasteful, just let us know!”
Vivek and Trump.
Musk also suggested the panel would offer merch.
Musk predicted he could cut at least US$2 trillion from the US federal budget at Trump’s rally last month at Madison Square Garden, though that would exceed the amount Congress spends annually on government agency operations, including defence.
It would likely require making significant cuts to popular entitlement programs such as Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid and veterans’ benefits.
Last fiscal year, the government spent more than US$6.75 trillion, with more than US$5.3 trillion of that coming from Social Security, health care, defence and veterans’ benefits - all of which are politically fraught and notoriously difficult to convince Congress to cut - as well as interest on the debt.
"This will send shockwaves through the system, and anyone involved in Government waste, which is a lot of people,” Musk said Tuesday in a statement provided by the Trump transition effort.
Musk, 53, saw his net worth top US$300 billion shortly after the election - the first time he’d surpassed that mark in almost three years.
He is the only person to ever have a fortune in excess of US$300 billion, according to Bloomberg’s wealth index. Tesla shares, which were trading about 1.5% lower in the after-hours session before Trump’s announcement, pared losses slightly after the news.
Musk is likely to serve as a special government employee, the formal designation for individuals outside of government brought in for short periods to lend their expertise.
Vivek, an Ohio businessman, mounted a bid for the GOP nomination himself but largely echoed and amplified Trump’s position.
During his run, Vivek, 39, was loathe to criticise Trump, praising the Republican standard-bearer and endorsing many of the policies the incoming president has espoused, including scaling back the size of the federal government and pulling back from foreign alliances.
Vivek also backed ending US aid to Ukraine, called at one point for a wall along the US-Canada border to halt the spread of Fentanyl and has been an advocate for the cryptocurrency industry, calling for rolling back regulations and implementing drastic cuts to the Securities and Exchange Commission.
His staunch support for Trump, fuelled by some breakout moments in primary debates that saw him attack some of the president-elect’s top rivals for the nomination, helped him build his standing among conservative voters.
Vivek would go on to be a fervent surrogate for the president-elect, earning Trump’s praise.
While Trump ruled him out as a running mate, he weighed him as a possible Cabinet pick as early as March, according to people familiar with the matter at the time.
On the trail, Trump praised Vivek as "smart” and expressed hope that he would be part of a second-term administration.
"We can put him in charge of one of these big monsters, and he’ll do a better job than anybody you can think of,” Trump said at a campaign rally in October.
