Donald Trump has confirmed Elon Musk will co-lead the new department of government efficiency as he named Fox News host and National Guard veteran Pete Hegseth as defence secretary.
The president-elect said on Tuesday that Mr Musk, the Tesla and X owner who is also the world’s richest man, will work with former Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy to lead the department, which is known as DOGE for short.
Meanwhile, Mr Trump’s pick of Mr Hegseth as his defence secretary came as a surprise to many, with critics pointing out his lack of experience and noting his opposition to “woke” ideas promoting equity and inclusion.
Mr Hegseth previously said men and women serving together “makes the situation more complicated” and that while diversity in the military is a strength, he said it was because white men and men from other ethnic backgrounds “can perform similarly” but the same isn’t true for women.
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Musk to co-run ‘efficiency’ dept
Appointing Mr Musk fulfils a promise Mr Trump made to the tech billionaire after he endorsed him in the race for the White House, and poured more than $119m (£92m) into canvassing for him in the seven battleground states.
In a statement, the president-elect said Mr Musk and Mr Ramaswamy “will pave the way for my administration to dismantle government bureaucracy, slash excess regulations, cut wasteful expenditures, and restructure federal agencies”.
Mr Musk has previously made clear his desire to see cut backs on “government waste” and in a post on his X platform suggested he could axe as many as three-quarters of the more than 400 federal departments in the US, writing: “99 is enough”.
In a separate post, he wrote: “Threat to democracy? Nope, threat to bureaucracy.”
In a string of picks for his second administration, Mr Trump also said he would nominate former director of national intelligence John Ratcliffe to be director of the CIA.
Donald Trump and Elon Musk in Butler, Pennsylvania. Pic: AP
What is DOGE?
Despite its name, the DOGE is not a government agency and is instead set to provide “advice and guidance” from the outside of government.
The statement released by Mr Trump said it will partner with the office of management and budget to “drive large scale structural reform, and create an entrepreneurial approach to government never seen before”.
This will likely mean both Mr Musk and biotech entrepreneur Mr Ramaswamy will be allowed to continue working in the private sector and serve without Senate approval, Sky News’ US partner network NBC reported, as they would technically not be federal workers.
Vivek Ramaswamy will lead the department with Mr Musk. Pic: AP
Federal employees are generally required to disclose their assets to ward off any potential conflicts of interest and to divest significant holdings relating to their work.
After being elected president in 2016, Mr Trump handed over control of his business empire to his sons in order to try to avoid a conflict of interest. The move was later criticised by the director of the office of government ethics that it did not go far enough and Mr Trump “still [knew] what he owned”.
‘More efficiency and less bureaucracy’
A deadline of 4 July 2026 has been put in place for the new DOGE to conclude its work.
The DOGE acronym coincides with a popular meme and the name of the cryptocurrency Dogecoin that Mr Musk promotes.
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Mr Trump added: “A smaller government, with more efficiency and less bureaucracy, will be the perfect gift to America on the 250th Anniversary of The Declaration of Independence. I am confident they will succeed!”
Mr Musk said in the statement the department will “send shockwaves through the system, and anyone involved in government waste”.
The billionaire has in the past called for the federal budget to be slashed by $2trn (£1.56trn) but has provided few details on how that could be achieved.
Meanwhile, Mr Ramaswamy, who threw his support behind Mr Trump after suspending his own bid for the presidency in January, has previously called for mass lay-offs in federal agencies.
The union representing federal workers said in a statement on Tuesday if the DOGE implements these recommendations, or ones similar, it would “mean massive cuts” to multiple departments.
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Mr Hegseth is a former Army National Guard captain who is well-known in conservative circles as a co-host of Fox News Channel’s Fox & Friends Weekend.
As Mr Trump’s defence secretary, he takes the place of retired high-ranking army general Lloyd Austin.
Trump is interviewed by Fox and Friends co-host Pete Hegseth in 2017. Pic: Reuters
A staunch conservative who embraces Mr Trump’s “America First” policies, Mr Hegseth has pushed for making the military more lethal.
During an interview on The Shawn Ryan Show podcast, he said allowing women to serve in combat hurts that effort.
“Everything about men and women serving together makes the situation more complicated, and complication in combat, that means casualties are worse,” Mr Hegseth said.
Earlier this week, president-elect Mr Trump named Susie Wiles – who ran his 2024 presidential campaign – as his White House chief of staff, the first woman in history to take up one of the most important non-elected roles in Washington.
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Florida Senator Marco Rubio is reported to be named as secretary of state, who serves as the president’s chief foreign affairs adviser and the country’s top diplomat.
If chosen, Mr Rubio would be the first Latino member of the president-elect’s top team, but Mr Trump could still change his mind on the appointment.
Below is a list of appointments Mr Trump has made for his administration so far:
• Susie Wiles, White House chief of staff
• Pete Hegseth, secretary of defence
• Elon Musk, co-lead Department of Government Efficiency
• Vivek Ramaswamy, co-lead Department of Government Efficiency
• Mike Waltz, national security adviser
• Tom Homan, “border czar”
• Elise Stefanik, United Nations ambassador
• Stephen Miller, deputy chief of staff for policy
• Lee Zeldin, head of the Environmental Protection Agency
• Mike Huckabee, ambassador to Israel
• Steven Witkoff, special envoy to the Middle East
• John Ratcliffe, CIA director
• William McGinley, White House counsel
• Kristi Noem, secretary of homeland security.
