BILLIONAIRE ELON MUSK has been appointed as the head of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), a new position in US President-elect Donald Trump’s cabinet.
Musk, who has a number of state contracts with the US through his private space agency SpaceX, will be tasked with managing and mitigating government wastage – wherever he sees fit.
Trump announced Musk’s appointment overnight, who will hold the role in a joint capacity alongside former republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy. Their role will begin shortly after Trump takes office.
His position in Trump’s cabinet will be an ‘advisory’ role, the President-elect said in a statement, and both men will be tasked with furnishing a report. Musk has previously voiced support for massive cuts in government agencies.
A final report, to be delivered to the President by 4 July 2026, will “dismantle government bureaucracy, slash excess regulation. cut wasteful expenditure and restructure federal agencies”, according to Trump.
“I look forward to Elon and Vivek making changes to federal bureaucracy with an eye on efficiency and, at the same time, making life better for all Americans,” Trump said in a statement.
The owner of X (formerly Twitter), SpaceX and Tesla found himself at the centre of the Trump campaign after he publicly endorsed the Republican candidate two days after there had been an attempt on his life in Butler, Pennsylvania in August.
Trump spoke positively about Musk to many of his crowds during the last weeks of the election campaign, in his absence, recognising the impact the businessman’s support had on his voter base.
Musk later appeared at the controversial rally at Madison Square Garden in New York.
The DOGE acronym shares the same name as a internet joke, or meme, and a cryptocurrency which Musk regularly supported and referenced in 2022. He previously joked that he would change the logo of X to an image associated with the meme.
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