Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy have been selected by President-elect Donald Trump to head the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), where they will "slash excess regulations, cut wasteful expenditures, and restructure Federal Agencies," according to an official release from the Trump-Vance transition team, which called this "potentially, the "Manhattan Project" of our time."
According to the statement, "Their work will conclude no later than July 4, 2026" - the nation's 250th anniversary.
Musk previously predicted he could cut at least $2 trillion from the US federal budget, while Ramaswamy suggested firing federal workers based on their social security numbers.
"Here’s how: if your [Social Security number] ends in an odd number, you’re fired," he wrote on X.
In September, Ramaswamy told podcaster Lex Fridman: "Get in there on day one, say that anybody in the federal bureaucracy who is not elected, elected representatives obviously were elected by the people, but the people who are not elected, if your social security number ends in an odd number, you’re out, if it ends in an even number, you’re in. There’s a 50% cut right there. Of those who remain, if your social security number starts in an even number, you’re in and if it starts with an odd number, you’re out. Boom. That’s a 75% reduction done. Literally, stochastically, okay, one of the virtues of that, it’s a thought experiment, not a policy prescription, but one of the virtues of that thought experiment is that you don’t have a bunch of lawsuits you’re dealing with about gender discrimination or racial discrimination or political viewpoint discrimination."
More:
He also said:
So the way I would do it, 75% headcount reduction across the board in the federal bureaucracy, send them home packing, shut down agencies that shouldn’t exist, rescind every unconstitutional regulation that Congress never passed. In a true self-governing democracy, it should be our elected representatives that make the laws and the rules not unelected bureaucrats. And that is the single greatest form of economic stimulus we could have in this country, but it is also the single most effective way to restore self-governance in our country as well. And it is the blueprint for, I think, how we save this country.
...
...most people who have run a company, especially larger companies know this, it’s 25% of the people who do 80 to 90% of the useful work, these government agencies are no different.
And how many government workers do we have?
Watch the entire interview here:
"This will send shockwaves through the system, and anyone involved in Government waste, which is a lot of people," Musk said on Tuesday in a statement provided by the Trump transition team.
Earlier in the day, Trump said the new government efficiency effort would develop a plan to eliminate "fraud and improper payments," conducting a "complete financial and performance audit" of the federal government. Trump also said that the panel would partner with the White House's Office of Management and Budget.
In the last fiscal year, the federal government spent more than $6.75 trillion - of which more than $5.3 trillion was spent on Social Security, health care, defense and veterans’ benefits.
Related:
Read the full press release below:
Here we go?
