What Is the Department of Government Efficiency? Musk, Ramaswamy to Lead

President-elect Donald Trump announced on Tuesday that his second administration will create the Department of Government Efficiency, led by Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy.
Trump, who won a second term in the White House last week, in a statement on Truth Social said that the department “will pave the way for my Administration to dismantle Government Bureaucracy, slash excess regulations, cut wasteful expenditures, and restructure Federal Agencies.”
“I look forward to Elon and Vivek making changes to the Federal Bureaucracy with an eye on efficiency and, at the same time, making life better for all Americans,” Trump added.
Details of the new department, which Trump abbreviated as DOGE, are fairly unknown. Trump said in his statement that the department will not be a federal agency but will provide guidance “outside of government” by partnering with the White House and Office of Management and Budget “to drive large scale structural reform, and create an entrepreneurial approach to Government never seen before.”
While on the campaign trail, Trump had touted giving Musk, the billionaire CEO of Tesla and SpaceX who threw millions of dollars into supporting Trump’s campaign, a spot in his administration. During a speech at the Economic Club of New York in September, Trump said that he planned to “create a government efficiency commission” at the “suggestion” of Musk.
At the time, in a post to X, formerly Twitter, Musk responded: “I look forward to serving America if the opportunity arises. No pay, no title, no recognition is needed.”
Musk said on Tuesday that “[a]ll 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!” he added in the post to X. “We will also have a leaderboard for most insanely dumb spending of your tax dollars. This will be both extremely tragic and extremely entertaining.”
Ramaswamy—who ran for the 2024 GOP presidential nominee before dropping out and endorsing Trump in January—on Tuesday responded to Trump’s announcement on X, writing, “We will not go gently, @elonmusk.”
He added in a separate post that he was “withdrawing myself from consideration” to potentially fill Vice President-elect JD Vance’s Senate seat in Ohio. GOP Ohio Governor Mike DeWine is tasked with appointing someone to fill Vance’s seat until a special election in 2026.
Ramaswamy made slashing government spending a key part of his presidential run, including vows to cut the FBI, Department of Education and Nuclear Regulatory Commission if elected to office. Trump has also floated the idea of closing the Department of Education.
Newsweek reached out to Trump’s campaign via email Tuesday evening for further comment.