SpaceX CEO Elon Musk and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy will jointly lead a new U.S. government program aimed at reducing the federal budget deficit.
The program, called the "Department of Government Efficiency" (D.O.G.E.), has an acronym that matches the code for Musk's favorite cryptocurrency, Dogecoin. According to President-elect Donald Trump, the program will "eliminate unnecessary regulations, reduce wasteful spending, and restructure federal agencies".
However, some details of the project remain unclear. Here is all we know so far about DOGE.
What is DOGE?
DOGE is a program that the U.S. government is about to launch, first mentioned by Elon Musk in a tweet last August.
While the project initially seemed like a joke (it was created for the sake of a joke, and Dogecoin's price always rises whenever Musk mentions it, which is not surprising), Trump has expressed support for DOGE's initiative to cut government spending, suggesting that the once-fictional department will actually become a real-life U.S. government agency.
Trump said in a statement on Tuesday: "Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy will pave the way for my administration to dismantle bureaucratic agencies, eliminate unnecessary regulations, reduce wasteful spending, and restructure federal agencies - which is crucial for the 'Save America' movement."
Trump also noted that the project will continue until "no later than July 4, 2026", the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence.
It's worth noting that according to the U.S. Congress website, DOGE is not a traditional official department of the U.S. government, as only Congress (not the President) can approve the establishment of new federal government departments.
Trump said Musk's meme-related ideas will exist "outside" the government system. This means that DOGE may not receive government funding support. It also means that the project will have very limited direct control over the budgets of U.S. government agencies, although DOGE's directives may be implemented through Trump's supporters in Congress.
Who will manage DOGE?
Billionaires Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy will lead the Department of Government Efficiency. According to a tweet posted by Musk on Thursday, neither of them will be paid for this work.
Of course, Musk is the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, and also the owner of Twitter (now called X). Ramaswamy is an entrepreneur who was a Republican presidential candidate, but withdrew from the primaries and instead supported Trump.
According to an official post from the department on Thursday, the program is tentatively to be staffed by a group of "ultra-high IQ, pro-small government revolutionaries" willing to work over 80 hours a week to cut shameful costs. Elon Musk tweeted this week that it's unclear how many employees will be hired to work on the project, but the jobs will be unpaid.
As of now, Ramaswamy and Musk have not immediately responded to Decrypt's requests for comment.
What will DOGE actually do?
Trump said DOGE's responsibility is to provide recommendations and guidance for reducing government regulations and spending through issuing reports, in order to streamline the U.S. government.
"Your money is being wasted, and the Department of Government Efficiency will fix that. We will no longer let the government entangle you, no longer take money from your wallets," Musk said at a Trump rally in New York City's Madison Square Garden in October.
However, the billionaire leaders of the would-be department have given different views on how much the U.S. federal government spending should be cut.
Musk suggested cutting federal spending by $2 million, which is one-third of the U.S. federal government's total budget. Meanwhile, Ramaswamy said he hopes to reduce the number of U.S. federal government employees by 75%, though the impact of such cuts on the budget is unclear.
Despite these differences, based on recent public comments by Ramaswamy and Musk, the DOGE leadership seems to agree on laying off a large number of federal government employees and several U.S. agencies, such as the Department of Education and the FBI, to reduce costs.
Musk tweeted on Thursday that "the extent of government waste is beyond public imagination." He was referring to the over $6 trillion in U.S. federal government spending in 2023.
Musk also said DOGE will hold weekly livestreams to share its progress.
Why is it called DOGE?
The acronym DOGE for the virtual department seems to be a playful reference to Dogecoin (DOGE), the meme-based cryptocurrency that Elon Musk is fond of. This connection is further reinforced by an official Trump merchandise T-shirt featuring President-elect Trump, Musk, and a Shiba Inu dog.
The Shiba Inu mascot-based meme was invented by a pair of software engineers in 2013. Musk has said he owns "a bunch" of Dogecoin, and has frequently discussed the token on Twitter over the past few years. In 2021, he even referred to himself as the "Dogefather" and mentioned the token while hosting Saturday Night Live.
During Musk's support for Trump's campaign, the value of Dogecoin has risen, and after Trump's victory and the official announcement of the DOGE leadership, its value has soared even further. Dogecoin hit a three-year high last week, driving the value of other popular meme coins to surge as well.
Welcome to join the official BlockBeats community:
Telegram subscription group: https://t.me/theblockbeats
Telegram discussion group: https://t.me/BlockBeats_App
Twitter official account: https://twitter.com/BlockBeatsAsia
