Donald Trump recently announced the Government Efficiency Department (DOGE), tasked with streamlining the federal administrative machinery, improving the business environment, and reducing government spending.
DOGE shares the same acronym with Dogecoin, the meme coin favored by Elon Musk, who will co-chair this department alongside billionaire Vivek Ramaswamy.
The elected president is leveraging his understanding of cryptocurrency as he embarks on business ahead of his inauguration in January 2025.
Beyond its symbolic meaning, DOGE also represents collective genius, risk tolerance, decentralization, and other values that Trump shares with the cryptocurrency community as he returns to the White House.
When announcing the new department, Trump said Musk and Ramaswamy would help end "the enormous waste and fraud that exist in our $6.5 trillion annual Government Spending."
DOGE will operate outside of government, effectively executing Trump’s mission to place business above bureaucracy. DOGE will advise the president without going through congressional processes.
Cryptocurrency is winning over Trump's early promises. Trump's push for a small government and support for innovation aligns perfectly with cryptocurrency companies that have had multiple conflicts with regulators.
Great hopes, little room for maneuver
Trump has positioned himself against the so-called deep state. In his first term, he had verbal battles with federal agencies, which he accused of being slow and conspiring against his administration.
In his second term and potentially his last, Trump knows he will be limited by the structures he will work within. His solution is to break those very structures.
DOGE will seek to dissolve some agencies but, outside of government, its role will be merely advisory, according to some experts. Trump still needs Congressional approval for any fundamental changes to the government structure.
Warren Whitlock, an emerging technology advisor and founder of a US-based cryptocurrency, said DOGE will bring "some changes" but not enough. In an interview with Cryptonews, he stated:
"Government cannot be as efficient as business because decisions are not made with the same logic. Businesses have an easy scoreboard - profits. Government is not measured by profits and ends up with other metrics [driven by politics]."
Whitlock stated that to create real change, the United States needs the attitude Musk once used with Twitter, now X, the company he bought for $44 billion in 2022.
"He [Musk] has eliminated waste," he said. "Twitter is functioning better and he has saved a lot of money."
However, the Tesla and SpaceX billionaire can ignore criticism and act because X is his company, Whitlock explains in detail.
On the other hand, the government is very sensitive to public opinion, and structural adjustments may not be supported by Trump's key voter groups.
According to Whitlock, implementing the changes Musk brings to X "could be a fanciful thing for DOGE and the federal government."
Because, in government, "the bureaucracy has the power to turn elected officials, the media, and the public against doing what is necessary... Closing down what does not benefit the people."
DOGE: The smartest gang in the government business
Donald Trump predicted DOGE would become "the Manhattan Project of our time." The gathering of scientific geniuses during World War II, recently celebrated in the Oscar-winning film Oppenheimer, operates outside of government to promote national interests.
A key point in Oppenheimer's viewpoint is how this semi-autonomous entity is not only established outside of government for greater efficiency but also how bureaucrats often suppress those who express progress and genius.
Referencing the Manhattan Project is a nod to DOGE's grand ambitions and the high IQ component of the company. Musk, in particular, is said to have outsmarted rival space explorer Jeff Bezos to become the top nerd of Silicon Valley.
The heads not only bring the "Manhattan" story deeper into their agenda but also view the Government Efficiency Department as the smartest gang in the government business.
"We need small government revolutionaries with extremely high IQs willing to work more than 80 hours a week to cut unattractive costs," this department said in one of its first X updates. "If that’s you, send this account directly along with your CV. Elon & Vivek will consider the top 1% of applicants."
Collective genius vs bureaucratic procedure
The three biggest egos in America, Trump, Musk, and Ramaswamy, gather in a room to cook, and their rhetoric emphasizes “the people,” “national service,” “the greater good,” and “voluntarism.”
With so much talent and money, the leaders of Trump Trade are always mindful to prioritize the community - in this case, the nation - over personal credit.
Of course, cryptocurrency is where the community reigns supreme, with decentralization, collective ownership, and group identity, if one only considers the examples of founders wearing masks.
According to Ramaswamy, he and Musk are not in business for personal gain.
"Elon and I are not in this for the credibility," he said on X on November 15. "But I think we will build consensus to make unprecedented deep cuts in most of our history."
Moreover, those hired with super high IQs will not be paid for their work, which somewhat indicates they are serving the nation. The self-denial requirement aims to give this department a significant advantage over federal agencies accused of exploiting taxpayers.
Ramaswamy has previously supported new ways to call for national duty from a disengaged younger generation. If his military duty call serves as a requirement to grant youth voting rights in outdated service fields, DOGE should provide a more attractive means of self-denial for the country.
The issue of the deep state
The GOP, led by Trump, is the party of small government and, by extension, the party of business. Without redundant departments, business operations run smoothly and faster. Essentially, DOGE is framed as the people's fight against the deep state.
A crack in style in Trump's announcement may provide insight. Terms like "government bureaucracy," "federal agency," and "6 trillion dollars of government spending" are all capitalized.
This is to personify them as entrenched entities that have deprived themselves of life. The monster, that is, demanded resistance, in the form of DOGE, to survive.
As Musk said, DOGE is about eliminating the "mountain of suffocating regulations that do not serve the common good."
Supporting DOGE, Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong remarked that government spending shows a flaw in the traditional government structure.
He said, "The founders are geniuses but (with humility) may have overlooked the unfavorable incentives that have expanded the size of government over time (winning elections by promising more free stuff)."
Conflict of interest
Leadership ethics expert Ann Skeet raises the potential conflict of interest when Musk's businesses, including Space X, Tesla, Boring Company, and X, have close relationships with regulators and also receive revenue from federal agencies.
Skeet, who leads the leadership department at the Markkula Center of Santa Clara University, said:
"There are direct conflicts between his businesses and the interests of government. Now he is in a position trying to court those businesses."
DOGE will advise and guide the White House and cooperate with the Office of Management and Budget in cutting spending and streamlining government bureaucracy.
Its position outside the cabinet gives it the potential to become an eye-catching consulting firm. In this limited form, Trump and Vivek can avoid accusations of conflicts of interest.
They may also bypass the usual congressional procedures that legitimate government agencies require to reach the president's ears.
High risk and fast processing time
A meme coin, of which Dogecoin is the most significant, is a type of digital currency that creates a community of investors around a trend on the internet.
Memecoins can be designed around any theme, from celebrities and pets to campaign candidates and cryptocurrency jokes. Memecoins have unpredictable lifespans, but Dogecoin, in particular, has weathered storms and reached for the moon.
Dogecoin has a long digital history, from the widely shared "meme of the year" in 2013, featuring a Shiba Inu dog contemplating in a snowy backdrop. That same year, an altcoin emerged with the symbol of a Shiba Inu dog.
The choice of Trump’s risk-taking individuals speaks to the kind of government he wants to lead. More importantly, it also embraces the high-risk cryptocurrency values for big profits. Specifically, the memecoin aspect of the quick turnover.
Both Musk and Ramaswamy are not known for their practicality or calmness. They always face significant risks and get the job done.
It should be noted that former presidential candidate Ramaswamy is the only Republican who can "outshine Trump." In the campaign, Ramaswamy supported a range of far-right views that far exceed Trump's conservatism in some cases.
The only reason he opposes Trump, who shares similar views with him, is that he believes this newly elected president does not have enough capability to handle this difficult job.
Among Ramaswamy's "greatest achievements" is the proposal to abolish the Department of Education, eliminate the provision allowing companies to hire high-skilled foreign workers for professional green cards for six years in this country, as well as disenfranchise those under 25 years old.
For his part, Musk directly preempted DOGE with a call to cut government spending by $2 trillion. His unpredictable and very private leadership style is also reflected in his takeover of X.
Trump claims that the DOGE project will culminate on July 4, 2026, coinciding with the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, adhering to the quick processing principles of memecoins.
In contrast, federal officials have more free time because they are fixed members of the government, unlike elected officials.
