As the President-elect of the United States, Donald Trump confirmed during Tuesday night that Elon Musk will be a member of his cabinet. The owner of X and Tesla was appointed to lead a new Department of Government Efficiency alongside Vivek Ramaswamy.
“Together, these two great Americans will pave the way for my administration to dismantle government bureaucracy, reduce excessive regulations, eliminate unnecessary spending, and restructure federal agencies,” said Trump in a statement in which he also stated that “this will send shockwaves through the system, and will impact all those involved in government waste, which are many!”.
Trump indicated that the new Department of Government Efficiency will be known by the abbreviation 'Doge', which supposedly alludes to the cryptocurrency 'Dogecoin', backed by Musk as "the people's cryptocurrency".
He stated that 'Doge' "will provide advice and guidance from outside the Government."
Elon Musk was already being considered for a position in Trump's cabinet. As the richest man in the world, he was one of the main financiers of his presidential campaign by donating an average of 200 million dollars.
Trump had proposed creating a government efficiency commission as part of his economic plans, and appointed Elon Musk, but emphasizing that he would not accept a cabinet position. This puzzled many, however, it was not entirely ruled out that the Tesla owner could be a surprise addition.
On the other hand, "Ramaswamy, who previously challenged Trump in the Republican presidential primaries before endorsing him in January, made reducing government spending a key pillar of his campaign platform," says CNN.
Elon Musk guarantees transparency in the ‘Doge’ Department
As the 'Doge' Department will be new, it must first be created and established for its functions. Elon Muk reacted to Trump's announcement, stating that he will report online on the actions of this Department in order to ensure transparency.
"All actions of the Department of Government Efficiency will be published online to ensure maximum transparency," Musk said, adding that "if at any time the public feels that we are cutting something important or not eliminating something unnecessary, let us know!"
He stated that "we will also have a classification table with the most absurd and senseless expenses of your taxes. This will be both extremely tragic and highly entertaining."
Conflicts of interest regarding 'Doge'?
Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy run their companies, so with this appointment, there is doubt whether they will step away from their executive roles to work for the United States government.
Both companies they lead have very lucrative government contracts, which has led many to raise concerns about possible conflicts of interest.
Currently, details about how the new ‘Doge’ Department will operate are unknown, so more information is expected to clarify its functioning.