Trump appoints SpaceX’s Elon Musk to head regulation-cutting Department of Government Effectiveness

Elon Musk will get a seat in the second Trump administration.

The SpaceX founder and CEO will lead a new “Department of Government Effectiveness” along with entrepreneur and politician Vivek Ramaswamy, President-elect Donald Trump announced Tuesday evening (Nov. 12).

“Together, these two great Americans will pave the way for my Administration to dismantle government bureaucracy, cut redundant regulations, cut wasteful spending, and restructure federal agencies as necessary to the movement to save America,” Trump wrote in a statement Tuesday (in capital letters). .

“This will potentially become the Manhattan Project of our time,” Trump added. “Republican politicians have been dreaming about DOGE goals for a very long time. To achieve this kind of sweeping change, the Office of Government Effectiveness will provide outside advice and guidance and will collaborate with the White House and the office. Management and Budget to implement large-scale structural reforms and create a never-before-seen entrepreneurial approach to government.”

Connected: What a second Trump administration could mean for NASA and space exploration

According to Trump, Elon Musk and Ramaswami will complete their work no later than July 4, 2026, the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence.

The creation of DOGE was not a big surprise. Musk, who campaigned for Trump and contributed more than $100 million of his own money to a pro-Trump political action committee, repeatedly mentioned the idea — and his potential involvement in it — on X in the weeks leading up to the election. (Musk bought X, then known as Twitter, in 2022 for $44 billion.)

And the name of the new department appears to be a reference to dogecoin, Musk’s favorite cryptocurrency.

Musk expressed renewed enthusiasm for DOGE following Trump’s announcement Tuesday night, posting about it multiple times on X.

“All actions of the Department of Government Effectiveness will be published online for maximum transparency. Any time the public thinks we’re cutting something important or not cutting something wasteful, just let us know! We’ll also have a leaderboard for your most insanely stupid expenses.” tax dollars. It will be both extremely tragic and extremely exciting,” he wrote in one post on Tuesday.

“Either we achieve efficient government or America goes bankrupt. That’s what it comes down to. I wish I was wrong, but it’s true,” another post said on Tuesday.

Musk’s involvement in the Trump administration is likely to draw criticism over conflicts of interest, given that the billionaire’s various businesses stand to benefit from decisions he helps make.

“His electric vehicle company Tesla receives government funding and millions of dollars to install electric vehicle charging stations. His rocket company SpaceX has won billions of dollars in government contracts for missions to the moon. And his satellite internet company, Starlink, also received millions in subsidies from the federal government,” NPR noted last week.

This is Musk’s second time running for Trump’s presidency. The SpaceX founder and CEO served on three advisory boards during Trump’s first term but stepped down in 2017 after the president withdrew the United States from the Paris climate pact.

Trump appoints SpaceX’s Elon Musk to head regulation-cutting Department of Government Effectiveness

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