Donald Trump has confirmed Elon Musk will serve in his cabinet to co-lead a new government department.
The president-elect said on Tuesday that the Tesla and X owner – who is also the world’s richest man – will work with former Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy to lead the department of government efficiency (DOGE for short).
The appointment fulfils a promise Mr Trump made to the tech billionaire after he endorsed him in the race for the White House, and poured more than $119m (£92m) canvassing for him in the seven battleground states.
In a statement, the president-elect said Mr Musk and Mr Ramaswamy “will pave the way for my administration to dismantle government bureaucracy, slash excess regulations, cut wasteful expenditures, and restructure federal agencies”.
A deadline of 4 July 2026 has been put in place for the department to conclude its work.
Mr Trump added: “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!”
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What Musk stands to gain from Trump
The department is set to provide “advice and guidance” from outside the government, Mr Trump said, which will likely mean both Mr Musk and biotech entrepreneur Mr Ramaswamy will be allowed to continue working in the private sector and serve without Senate approval, Sky’s US partner network NBC reported.
The DOGE acronym of the new department coincides with a popular meme and the name of the cryptocurrency Dogecoin that Mr Musk promotes.
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In a string of picks for his second administration on Tuesday, Mr Trump also named Fox New host and army veteran Pete Hegseth as his pick for defence secretary and said he would nominate former director of national intelligence John Ratcliffe to be director of the CIA.
Earlier this week, the president-elect named Susie Wiles – who ran his 2-24 presidential campaign – as his White House chief of staff, the first woman in history to take up one of the most important non-elected roles in Washington.
