SpaceX CEO Elon Musk and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy will co-lead a new U.S. government initiative aimed at reducing the federal budget deficit.
The plan, called the Department of Government Efficiency (D.O.G.E.), which shares the same acronym as Dogecoin, Musk’s favorite cryptocurrency, will “cut redundant regulations, reduce wasteful spending, and reorganize federal agencies,” according to President-elect Donald Trump.
However, some details of the project remain unclear. Here’s everything we know about DOGE so far.
What is DOGE?
DOGE is an upcoming initiative of the US government that was first mentioned by Elon Musk in a tweet last August.
While the project initially seemed like a joke (created just for the sake of it, and unsurprisingly, Dogecoin’s price rises whenever Musk mentions it), Trump’s support for DOGE’s initiative to cut government spending hinted that the once-fictional department would actually become a real-life U.S. government affiliate.
"Together, Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy will pave the way for my Administration to dismantle government bureaucracy, cut redundant regulations, reduce wasteful spending, and reorganize federal agencies — critical to the 'Save America' campaign," Trump said in a statement on Tuesday.
Trump also noted that the project would continue until "no later than July 4, 2026," the 250th anniversary of the (Declaration of Independence).
It is worth noting that according to the U.S. Congress website, DOGE is not an official department of the U.S. government in the traditional sense, because 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 be supported by government funds. It also means that the project's ability to directly control the budgets of US government agencies will be very limited, 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 Ministry of Government Efficiency. Neither will be paid for the work, according to a Twitter post by Musk on Thursday.
Musk, of course, is the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, and the owner of Twitter (now X). Ramaswamy is an entrepreneur and one-time Republican presidential candidate who dropped out of the race during the primaries and endorsed Trump.
According to an official post from the department on Thursday, the program will tentatively consist of a group of "super-intelligent, small government revolution-supporting people" who are willing to work more than 80 hours a week to cut ignominious costs. Elon Musk tweeted this week that it is not yet clear how many employees will be hired to work on the project, but the jobs will be unpaid.
Neither Ramaswamy nor Musk immediately responded to Decrypt's request for comment.
What will DOGE actually do?
Trump said DOGE’s job is to streamline the U.S. government by issuing reports that provide recommendations and guidance for cutting government regulations and spending.
“Your money is being wasted, and the Department of Government Efficiency is going to fix that. We’re not going to have government bothering you and taking money out of your wallet anymore,” Musk said at a Trump rally at Madison Square Garden in New York City in October.
However, the quasi-sector's billionaire leaders have given different accounts of how far U.S. federal government spending should be cut.
Musk suggested cutting federal spending by $2 million, or one-third of the total U.S. federal government budget. At the same time, Ramaswamy said he wants to cut the number of federal government employees by 75%, though the impact of such a cut on the budget is unclear.
Despite these differences, DOGE leaders appear to be on the same page about laying off a large number of federal government employees and several U.S. agencies, such as the Department of Education and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), in an effort to cut costs, based on recent public comments by Ramaswamy and Musk.
"The government wastes more money than the public realizes," Musk said on Twitter on Thursday, referring to U.S. federal government spending of more than $6 trillion in 2023.
Musk also said that DOGE will hold weekly live broadcasts to share its progress.
Why is it called DOGE?
The virtual unit’s acronym, DOGE, appears to be a playful reference to Dogecoin, the high-market-cap meme coin favored by Elon Musk. The connection was reinforced by a T-shirt sold by Trump officials featuring the president-elect, Musk and a Shiba Inu.
The meme, known for its Shiba Inu mascot, was invented by a pair of software engineers in 2013. Musk has said he owns "a bunch" of Dogecoins, and he has frequently tweeted about the coin over the past few years. In 2021, he even called himself the "Father of Dogecoin" and mentioned the coin while hosting (Saturday Night Live).
Dogecoin’s value climbed during Musk’s support for Trump’s campaign, and then soared after Trump won and officially announced DOGE’s leadership. Dogecoin hit its highest price in three years last week and helped drive the value of other well-known meme coins soaring.
