Washington, 13 Nov

US President-elect Donald Trump has announced that Tesla owner Elon Musk and Indian American entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy will lead the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, aimed at improving governance and curbing wasteful expenditures.

Trump has also given them a deadline of 4 July, 2026, the 250th Anniversary of The Declaration of Independence. “I am pleased to announce that the Great Elon Musk, working in conjunction with American Patriot Vivek Ramaswamy, will lead the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE),” Trump announced late on Tuesday.

Ramaswamy, 37, is the first Indian American to have been tapped by Trump into his administration beginning 20 January next year. His parents migrated to the US from Kerala and worked at a General Electric plant in Ohio.

“I look forward to Elon and Vivek making changes to the federal bureaucracy with an eye on efficiency and, at the same time, making life better for all Americans. Importantly, we will drive out the massive waste and fraud which exists throughout our annual USD 6.5 trillion of government spending,” said the president-elect. “Together, these two wonderful Americans will pave the way for my administration to dismantle government bureaucracy, slash excess regulations, cut wasteful expenditures, and restructure federal agencies -- essential to the 'Save America' movement,” he said.

The US President-elect said this will become, potentially, 'The Manhattan Project' of the current time.

The Manhattan Project was a massive top-secret government project that resulted in the atomic bomb that ended World War II. According to the US Department of Energy website, “At its peak, the project employed 1,30,000 workers and, by the end of the war, had spent USD 2.2 billion.”

Asserting that the Republican politicians have dreamed about the objectives of DOGE for a very long time, Trump said the Department of Government Efficiency will provide advice and guidance from outside of government, and will partner with the White House and Office of Management and Budget “to drive large-scale structural reform, and create an entrepreneurial approach to the government never seen before.”

“We will not go gently, @elonmusk,” Ramaswamy took to X soon after the announcement. Reacting to a post on X about his appointment, Ramaswamy said in another post on X, “DOGE will soon begin crowdsourcing examples of government waste, fraud, & abuse. Americans voted for drastic government reforms & they deserve to be part of fixing it.”

Musk, who had supported Trump through his presidential campaign, too was upbeat about the appointment. “This will send shock waves through the system, and anyone involved in government waste, which is a lot of people!” stated Musk, as per the statement issued by Trump.

The president-elect also announced that the duo's work will conclude “no later than July 4, 2026,” adding that a smaller government, with more efficiency and less bureaucracy, “will be the perfect gift to America on the 250th Anniversary of The Declaration of Independence.” “I am confident they will succeed!” Trump declared.