In a Nov. 20 op-ed for the Wall Street Journal, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk and former Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy outlined their plans for the newly established Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), which they will lead in a second Trump administration. Their goal is to reduce government spending, eliminate wasteful agencies, and slash regulations. Appointed by President-elect Donald Trump, Musk and Ramaswamy will serve in an advisory role to the White House and the Office of Management and Budget (OMB).
They argue that the expanding bureaucracy poses a significant threat to the republic, and politicians have allowed it to grow unchecked. Unlike other advisory committees, they aim not just to make recommendations but to actively cut costs. They plan to consult with legal experts to apply recent court rulings that suggest many federal regulations exceed the authority granted by Congress.
Musk and Ramaswamy propose reducing the number of government employees in line with the elimination of regulations. They suggest transferring displaced workers to the private sector and using existing laws to offer early retirement or voluntary severance.
The duo also targets wasteful spending in agencies like the Pentagon, which has failed audits despite a massive budget. They aim to save taxpayers money by addressing waste, fraud, and abuse and plan to cut about $2 trillion, or 30% of the federal budget. Musk proposes using AI and crowdsourcing to identify inefficiencies and curb unnecessary expenditures.
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