Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy to advise White House on government efficiency

President-elect Donald Trump on Tuesday said Elon Musk and former Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy will lead a new non-governmental agency called the Department of Government Efficiency (Doge).

The acronym Doge is a nod to Musk’s favourite cryptocurrency, dogecoin.

Mr Trump said in a statement that Mr Musk and Mr Ramaswamy will work from outside the government to offer the White House “advice and guidance” and will partner with the Office of Management and Budget to “drive large scale structural reform, and create an entrepreneurial approach to Government never seen before”. He added that the move would shock government systems.

Because Mr Musk and Mr Ramaswamy would not be formal federal workers, they would not face those requirements or ethical limitations.

Mr Musk posted on X: “Department of Government Efficiency. The merch will be (fire emojis).”

Later, he added: “Threat to democracy? Nope, threat to BUREAUCRACY!!!”

Mr Musk at one point suggested he could find more than 2 trillion dollars in savings — nearly a third of total annual government spending.

Mr Trump had made clear that Mr Musk would likely not hold any kind of full-time position, given his other commitments.

Mr Ramaswamy suspended his campaign in January and threw his support behind Mr Trump.

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