The name and style brandished by Elon Musk sounds like a joke. However, the billionaire, a Trump ally, is preparing to lead a new department attached to the government called “DOGE”, with the mission of sifting through the inefficiencies of the administration in 530 days – until July 4, 2026, the day symbolic of American independence. This project resonates with a long-standing fight: as early as his 2017 presidential campaign, Trump denounced the excesses of “ Deep State » (Deep State).
Barely launched, in parallel with the ministries which will be announced after the inauguration of Donald Trump on January 20, 2025, this Department of Government Efficiency already has his account on X and his website.
On this one, we can already read: “Our mission is to decentralize the narrative around government spending, returning the power to the people to hold government entities accountable for their financial decisions”immediately announces the project.
Rhetoric borrowed from the world of cryptocurrencies, with a name inspired by Dogecoin, Elon Musk's favorite digital token. Initially created as a joke, this token, which bears the image of a Japanese dog, takes advantage of the billionaire's influence to gain value.
More surprisingly, the purchase and sale of cryptocurrencies is directly offered via the site which references several exchange platforms. Debt, public spending and deficit trackers are also published there. The DOGE also sees itself as a supervisory body for American institutions: “agencies cannot decide major issues of economic or political importance without “clear authorization from Congress”announces the former candidate for the Republican nomination Vivek Ramaswamy in 2023, appointed, with the boss of Tesla, in charge of DOGE.
Who is Vivek Ramaswamy, the revelation of the Republican primaries who follows in Donald Trump's footsteps?
Businessmen with no political experience
From the profile of Vivek Ramaswamy, the broad outlines of this paragovernmental working group can be seen. Once anticipated as Donald Trump's future running mate, his particularity is to have, like Elon Musk, no political experience. This Indian of origin, however, nourishes a vision, that of the libertarian movement, which wants to reduce State intervention in the economy to its strict minimum, for the benefit of individual freedoms.
During his campaign, this anti-woke entrepreneur proposed the abolition of several major federal agencies, including the FBI, the Department of Education and the Internal Revenue Service, the American administration responsible for taxes. He also wants to reduce the staff of the American Central Bank by 90% and ensure the stability of the dollar by pegging it to a basket of products.
Drastic cuts in the civil service
A program which also recalls the reforms carried out in Argentina by the other libertarian figure, President Javier Milei, supported by Trump, and who does not hesitate to cut the number of civil servants. A policy that Vivek Ramaswamy cites on X, with the Argentinian's slogan “ Outside ” (Out !).
If Donald Trump was ultimately largely elected against the Democratic camp, these job cuts risk however causing turmoil across the Atlantic. In 2020, nearly 24 million people, or just over 15% of the workforce, are engaged in military, public and national service at the local, state and federal levels, according to the Brookings Institute. It is this payroll that the Musk-Ramaswamy duo has in their sights. For comparison, in relation to the population, the number of civil service staff is higher in France. In 2017, the administration rate (the number of public officials per inhabitant) in France stood at 91.1 per thousand, compared to 68.6‰ (per thousand) in the United States, according to figures from France Strategy.
To replace these civil servants, Elon Musk wants to promote new services called “OpenGov”, based on the sharing of citizens' data in open source to control government decisions. “DOGE will soon begin collecting examples of waste, fraud and abuse in government. Americans voted for drastic government reform and they deserve to be part of solving this problem.”warned on X Vivek Ramaswamy.
