President-elect Donald Trump promised to create a daring new “authorities fee” tasked with slashing federal inefficiency led by tech billionaire Elon Musk. Nevertheless, the challenge he unveiled on Tuesday was markedly extra modest: Musk, Trump stated, will co-chair a brief exterior advisory group with a corny acronym and restricted White Home operate.
If the choice got here as a shock or disappointment to Musk, he isn’t letting on. “It will ship shockwaves by way of the system and anybody concerned in authorities waste, which is lots of people!” Musk stated, based on the assertion. The best way Musk plans to ship these shock waves is way from clear. As an alternative of making a authorities fee or new cupboard place—which might have uncovered Musk to legislative scrutiny and all kinds of conflict-of-interest guidelines—Trump is standing up a 16-month advisory initiative, dubbed the “Division of Authorities Effectivity,” or DOGE. Musk can even share management duties with Vivek Ramaswamy, the pharmaceutical entrepreneur and one-time Trump challenger. Neither man might be employed by the federal authorities, Trump’s assertion recommended, which implies their affect will probably solely extend to advising the Workplace of Administration and Finances. The entire challenge can even wind down on July 4, 2026—simply 16 months after Trump’s inauguration.
None of because of this Trump received’t achieve wreaking havoc on the federal forms, which Musk has stated he can reduce by $2 trillion. Nevertheless it’s a far cry from Trump’s initially anticipated hopes to put in Musk as his “secretary of cost-cutting” or one thing equally grand. And even when the OMB takes up Musk’s suggestions, federal spending plans should nonetheless go Congress—the place lawmakers are prone to balk at bone-deep cuts and the place Republicans’ management of the Home seems to be like it will likely be much smaller than initially anticipated.
The association in all probability works effectively for Musk and Ramaswamy, who now get official-sounding titles with out adhering to the complete suite of pesky ethics guidelines that apply to federal employees. (Notably, DOGE may still be subject to the Federal Advisory Committee Act, which units some ethics and accountability tips for advisory teams.) In early September, Musk posted to X that he would serve within the Trump administration with out pay, title, or recognition—a gesture you possibly can interpret as altruism or a need to skirt customary process. Trump has additionally hinted that Musk’s enterprise entanglements would possibly restrict his function within the administration: “I’d put him within the Cupboard, completely,” Trump said in August, “however I don’t understand how he may do this with all of the issues he’s acquired going.”
Cupboard place or no, Musk has change into a fixture in Trump’s orbit this previous week, zipping round Mar-a-Lago in a golf cart and becoming a member of the president-elect for high-level conferences. On Wednesday, Politico reported that some members of Trump’s interior circle have started to tire of the billionaire. “Elon is getting somewhat large for his britches,” one reportedly stated.
