Elon Musk and Doge: What you need to know about the Department of Government Efficiency

SpaceX CEO Elon Musk and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy are leading a new US government initiative aimed at reducing the federal budget deficit.

The initiative, called the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) — which has the same acronym as Musk's favorite cryptocurrency Dogecoin — will “limit excessive regulations, cut wasteful spending and streamline federal agencies,” President-elect Donald Trump said. Trump.

However, some details about the project are unclear. Here's everything we know about DOGE so far

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What is DOGE?

DOGE is an upcoming US government initiative that Elon Musk first tweeted in August.

Although the project initially appeared to be a gag – created as a gag and surprisingly the price of Dogecoin was mentioned every time by Musk – Trump threw his support behind DOGE's push to limit government spending and the once-fictional part will become a real-life entity associated with the US government.

“together, [Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy] “My administration will pave the way for dismantling government bureaucracy, killing redundant regulations, cutting wasteful spending, and restructuring federal agencies—essential to the ‘Save America' movement,” Trump said in a statement.

The project will be active until “no later than July 4, 2026,” Trump said, which would be the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence.

Notably, DOGE is not a US government department in the traditional sense, as only Congress, not the president, approves the creation of new federal government departments, according to the US Congressional website.

Instead, Musk's meme-related brainchild lives “outside” the government system, Trump said. That means DOGE probably won't receive government money. Although Doge's directive could be implemented by Trump supporters in Congress, it means the project will have little direct control over the US government agency's budget.

Who manages DOGE?

Billionaires Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy head the Department of Government Efficiency. According to Musk's tweet, none of the executives receive compensation for their work.

Musk is the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX and the owner of Twitter (he's X). Ramaswamy, an entrepreneur and one-time Republican presidential hopeful, dropped out of the race during the primaries and threw his support behind Trump.

According to the department's official post, the initiative will be funded by a number of “ultra-high-IQ small-government revolutionaries willing to work 80+ hours a week on unglamorous cost-cutting.” It is not yet known how many workers. He will hire for the project, but the gigs will be unpaid, Elon Musk tweeted.

Billionaire Marc Andreessen of venture capital giant Andreessen Horowitz has been recruited to serve as DOGE's “key talent recruitment network employee,” The Washington Post cited an anonymous source as saying.

The initiative's billionaire co-leaders are teaming up with several Silicon Valley bigwigs to address “technical challenges in gathering information about federal employees and programs,” the same report said, to address the main problem the initiative aims to address. Those advisers include Palantir founder Joe Lonsdale and hedge fund manager Bill Ackman, the newspaper said, citing multiple people familiar with the matter.

Neither Ramaswamy nor Musk responded to Decrypt's request for comment.

What does DOGE actually do?

Doge's mission is to streamline the U.S. government by issuing reports that provide advice and guidance on cutting government regulations and spending, Trump said.

“Your money is being wasted, and the Department of Government Efficiency is here to fix that. We're going to get government off your back and out of your pocketbook,” Musk said at a rally for Trump in New York City's Madison Square Garden in October.

The quasi-department plans to do just that by pushing its cost-cutting recommendations through Congress. Mook and Ramaswamy can also present their proposals directly to Trump, who has the power to override Congress and issue executive orders implementing DOGE directives.

While critics have expressed doubts about how much change the DOGE will be able to make, budget-cutting measures are increasingly likely to get at least some play in Congress.

In late November, GOP members of Congress formed the Congressional Delivery for Greater Government Effectiveness (DOGE) Caucus, which will champion DOGE guidelines on Capitol Hill.

The group of lawmakers in the House and Senate is still growing, even entering the first Democratic member in early December, Representative Jared Moskowitz (D-FL), The Hill reported. The formation of the caucus is a sign that Musk and Ramaswamy's efforts to rally lawmakers behind their government agency are bearing fruit.

In November, Musk and Ramaswamy reportedly traveled to Washington, D.C., and Mar-a-Lago, where they interviewed “current Washington operatives, lawyers and top tech leaders” to outline their plans for the agency, according to the Washington Post. He mentioned five people who know the matter

However, the billionaire heads of the quasi-department have given different statements about how much the US federal government should be cut.

Musk proposed cutting federal spending by $2 million—one-third of the entire US federal government budget. Meanwhile, Ramaswamy has said he wants to cut 75% of the US federal workforce, although the budgetary impact of such cuts is unclear.

Despite these differences, Doge's leaders appear to be aligned on cutting the costs of many federal government workers and several US agencies, such as the Department of Education and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), according to a recent poll by Ramaswamy.

” of [government funds] The waste is greater than the public can imagine,” Musk tweeted, referring to US federal government spending projected to top $6 trillion by 2023.

According to the Washington Post, Musk and Ramaswamy plan to launch a podcast called “DOGEcast” that will provide weekly updates on their efforts.

Why is it called DOGE?

The fake department's initials, DOGE, appear to be a cheeky reference to the Dogecoin (DOGE) token popularized by Elon Musk. That connection is reinforced by an official T-shirt sold by Trump that features President-elect Musk and a Shiba Inu dog.

The famous Shiba Inu mascot meme was created in 2013 by software engineers. Musk claims to have a Dogecoin “pack,” and has frequently talked about the coin on Twitter over the years. In 2021, he referred to Coin while hosting Saturday Night Live, calling himself the “Doge Father.”

Dogecoin's price soared on the campaign trail for Musk for Trump, and skyrocketed after Trump's victory and the announcement of DOGE's leadership. The coin recently hit a three-year high and helped boost the value of other popular commemorative coins.

What's the latest on DOGE?

Mook and Ramaswamy went to Capitol Hill on Thursday, December 5 to discuss DOGE's goals with the legislative team.

In a private meeting on Thursday, mostly Republican senators scrutinized a 60-page spending cut proposal that the businessmen presented to the federal government, Fox News reported. The meeting was chaired by Senator Joni Ernst (R-IA), chair of the US Senate's newly created DOGE Caucus.

During the meeting, Musk told lawmakers that he and Ramaswamy would keep a “naughty and cute” list of politicians who support the billionaire's budget-cutting proposals and those who don't, the Associated Press reported, citing lawmakers who attended the meeting.

Edited by Andrew Hayward.

Editor's note: This story was originally published in on November 17, 2024 and was last updated with new details on December 7.