Trump names Musk and Ramaswamy to lead new Department of Government Efficiency

WASHINGTON - US President-elect Donald Trump on Nov 12 appointed Mr Elon Musk to a role aimed at creating a more efficient government, handing even more influence to the world’s richest man who donated millions of dollars to helping Trump get elected.

Mr Musk and former Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy will co-lead a newly created Department of Government Efficiency, an entity Trump indicated will operate outside the confines of government.

Trump said in a statement that Mr Musk and Mr Ramaswamy “will pave the way for my Administration to dismantle Government Bureaucracy, slash excess regulations, cut wasteful expenditures, and restructure Federal Agencies”.

Trump said the new department will realise long-held Republican dreams and “provide advice and guidance from outside of government”, signalling the Musk and Ramaswamy roles would be informal, without requiring Senate approval and allowing Mr Musk to remain the head of electric car company Tesla, social media platform X and rocket company SpaceX.

The new department would work 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, Trump said.

The work would conclude by July 4, 2026 – the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence.

Mr Musk, ranked by Forbes as the richest person in the world, already stood to benefit from Trump’s victory, with the billionaire entrepreneur expected to wield extraordinary influence to help his companies and secure favourable government treatment.

With many links to Washington, Mr Musk

gave millions of dollars to support Trump’s presidential campaign

and made public appearances with him.

Adding a government portfolio to Mr Musk’s plate could benefit the market value of his companies and favoured businesses such as artificial intelligence and cryptocurrency.

“It’s clear that Musk will have a massive role in the Trump White House, with his increasing reach clearly across many federal agencies,” equities analyst Daniel Ives of Wedbush Securities said in a research note.

“We believe the

major benefits for Musk and Tesla

far outweigh any negatives as this continues to be a ‘poker move for the ages’ by Musk betting on Trump,” Mr Ives said.

The move was criticised by Public Citizen, a progressive consumer rights non-governmental organisation that challenged several of Trump’s first-term policies.

“Musk not only knows nothing about government efficiency and regulation, his own businesses have regularly run afoul of the very rules he will be in position to attack in his new ‘czar’ position,” Ms Lisa Gilbert, co-president of Public Citizen, said in a statement.

“This is the ultimate corporate corruption.”

Maximum transparency promised

Trump likened the efficiency effort to the Manhattan Project, the US undertaking to build the atomic bomb that helped end World War II, while Mr Musk promised transparency.

“All actions of the Department of Government Efficiency will be posted online for maximum transparency,” Mr Musk said on X, inviting the public to provide tips.

“We will also have a leaderboard for most insanely dumb spending of your tax dollars. This will be both extremely tragic and extremely entertaining.”

He said at a Trump rally at Madison Square Garden in October that the federal budget could be reduced by “at least” US$2 trillion (S$2.7 trillion).

Discretionary spending, including defence spending, is estimated to total US$1.9 trillion out of US$6.75 trillion in total federal outlays for fiscal 2024, according to the Congressional Budget Office.

The acronym of the new department – DOGE – also references the name of the cryptocurrency dogecoin that Mr Musk promotes.

Trump also said on Nov 12 that he had picked former director of national intelligence John Ratcliffe to serve as director of the Central Intelligence Agency.

He also said he will nominate Fox News Channel host Pete Hegseth to be secretary of defence.

Mr Ratcliffe, a close ally of Trump, served as director of national intelligence at the end of his first term.

He was confirmed as the nation’s top spy in May 2020, eight months before Trump left office. A former member of the House of Representatives and US attorney for Texas, he received no support from Senate Democrats during his confirmation.

As director of national intelligence, Mr Ratcliffe was accused by Democrats and former intelligence officials of declassifying intelligence for use by Trump and his Republican allies to attack political opponents, including Mr Joe Biden, then Trump’s rival for the presidency, a charge Mr Ratcliffe’s office has denied.

News outlets, including Reuters, also reported on concerns that Mr Ratcliffe exaggerated his counter-terrorism experience as a federal prosecutor in Texas.

On Mr Hegseth, Trump said: “Pete is tough, smart and a true believer in America First.”

“With Pete at the helm, America’s enemies are on notice – Our Military will be Great Again, and America will Never Back Down,” he added.

Mr Hegseth is an Army National Guard veteran and according to his website served in Afghanistan, Iraq and Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

“The job of secretary of defence should not be an entry level position,” Representative Adam Smith, the top Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee, said on X.

Trump also said he had picked Mr William McGinley to serve as his White House counsel.

Mr McGinley had served in Trump’s first presidential term as White House Cabinet secretary.

“Bill is a smart and tenacious lawyer who will help me advance our America First agenda while fighting for election integrity and against the weaponisation of law enforcement,” Trump said in a statement. REUTERS