What do Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy plan to do with DOGE?

For months, Elon Musk, the world’s richest person, has been pushing for a department to slash United States government spending.

On November 12, President-elect Donald Trump made his wish come true and announced that Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, an entrepreneur and failed Republican presidential candidate, would lead the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).

DOGE appears to be an outside advisory department that will work in conjunction with the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), a White House office in charge of helping the sitting president craft budget proposals to bring to Congress. Musk gave the department official government credentials on X, the social media platform he owns.

“From everything we’ve heard now, what Elon and Vivek are proposing to do would be something similar to what the Office of Management and Budget and GAO [Government Accountability Office] does. OMB serves the president specifically to help manage federal agencies across the executive branch. Anything that goes to the president has to go through OMB first. Anything that comes from the president to other agencies has to go through OMB first,” a former senior Trump administration official who declined to be named told Al Jazeera.

Regardless, it would not be an official cabinet position, which would require the formation of a new government agency, which would require congressional approval. The most recent agency to be created was the Department of Homeland Security, which opened its doors in 2003 in the aftermath of the September 11, 2001, attacks.Last week, he shared on X an old interview with Milton Friedman in which the economist lists the government departments that should be scrapped – agriculture, education, commerce – adding, “Milton Friedman was the best,” a post that is being read as things Musk would like to do.

Ramaswamy, who will co-lead the office, said he wants to cut 75 percent of the federal government workforce. The federal government employs roughly 2 million civilians. A 75 percent reduction would mean that 1.5 million people would be out of a job, which, experts said, will strip down a range of services from food stamps to defence spending.

To boost the effort, Trump ally and Republican Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene has been picked to lead a DOGE subcommittee in the House of Representatives, in which she is to outline plans to fire government employees. The subcommittee has yet to be created.

Musk has acknowledged that the move would create temporary hardships but said it is for long-term prosperity.