The world’s richest person has a new job.
Elon Musk will lead a newly created “Department of Government Efficiency” that will spearhead efforts to shrink the federal government, President-elect Donald Trump announced Tuesday.
Musk will work with fellow Trump acolyte Vivek Ramaswamy to run DOGE — a winking reference to a joke cryptocurrency – and conclude their work by July 4, 2026, Trump said in a written statement announcing an effort that had been previewed during his campaign.
“They will work together to liberate our Economy, and make the U.S. Government accountable to ‘WE THE PEOPLE,’” the president-elect said.
Details of the department — such as the size of its staff, if any, and the scope of its mission — were not yet available.
The budget-cutting endeavor gives an unusual and influential role to Musk, who spent more than $100 million to help elect Trump and has billions in government contracts through his Space X and Starlink companies.
Ramaswamy ran in the Republican primary in 2024 but went on to become a passionate advocate for Trump on the campaign trail.
Trump floated the idea of naming Musk as the head of a government efficiency commission in September during a speech to the New York Economic Club.
