US President-elect Donald Trump has appointed Elon Musk to jointly lead a new “Department of Government Efficiency”
Musk will lead the body with Republican Vivek Ramaswamy – it’s essentially an advisory role.
Trump says the body will “dismantle government bureaucracy” and could be the “Manhattan Project of our time” – a reference to the top-secret effort to develop nuclear weapons during World War Two
Trump has also picked Pete Hegseth, a Fox News host and Army veteran, to be defence secretary
Meanwhile, John Ratcliffe is appointed director of national intelligence and Kristi Noem will lead the Department of Homeland Security.
The “Department of Government Efficiency” – or Doge for short – set up to slash government spending.
We know very little about exactly what the body will do, where it will sit against formal government structures, and how much power it will wield – but in an hours-long posting spree on X, Musk offers some sweeping indications.
He’s calling Doge “America’s last chance” and claims the country will go bankrupt without it, adding: “Threat to democracy? Nope, threat to BUREAUCRACY!!!”
One post, that Musk re-shared, alleged that $750,000 of tax is used for the New York Metropolitan Opera fire alarm.
In another, Senator Rand Paul’s claim that the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases spent $477,121 “to study HIV in transgender monkeys” is cited.
Musk says Doge’s actions will be posted online for transparency, and there will be a leader board for the “most insanely dumb spending of your tax dollars”.
He claims 99 federal agencies is “more than enough” – there are currently over 400 agencies and sub-agencies.
In summary, Musk promises this is “Making Government Fun Again!”
