Elon Musk, the world’s richest man, has been rewarded for supporting Donald Trump during the election by being given a prominent job.
The X, Tesla and SpaceX owner will lead a body dubbed the Department of Government Efficiency , external– or Doge for short, which is also the name of a cryptocurrency promoted by Musk.
We still don’t know much about how this new organisation will function in practice as it appears it will operate independently of normal government department structures.
In a statement, Trump said it will “provide advice and guidance from outside of government”, in partnership with both the White House and the Office of Management and Budget.
Along with Vivek Ramaswamy, another vocal Trump supporter, Musk has been told to “pave the way” for a dramatic reduction in red tape and spending, with a deadline of 4 July 2026.
The move could result in substantial federal job cuts, something Musk has called for previously. He has also said he thinks $2 trillion could be saved from the government’s budget.
Last night, Musk said on X he will create an online “leaderboard for most insanely dumb spending” of US tax dollars.