“Dogecoin to the moon!” these are the words billionaire and the world’s richest man Elon Musk said with gusto when speaking about the cryptocurrency ‘Dogecoin’, which as the story goes, was created by two software engineers as a joke. Musk’s subsequent praise for the cryptocurrency led to a stellar increase in its value.
While the billionaire is (in)famous for his affinity for memes, no one, and I mean no one, had ‘An entity inspired by a meme will advice the US government on how to spend its money efficiently’ on their 2024 bingo cards. However, real life is often stranger than fiction and we find ourselves at this exact juncture. Having claimed a victory in both the popular and the electoral votes in the 2024 US presidential election, president-elect Donald Trump announced a host of new changes for his 2nd term.
pic.twitter.com/042NfHZOQU
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 13, 2024
Among the flurry of announcements, he announced a new department named ‘Department of Government Efficiency’ or DOGE that’ll aid his administration to cut government spending. Interestingly, for a department that’s supposed to oversee efficiency, it’s headed by two people, Elon Musk and former GOP presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy
Also Read: Why Elon Musk is the real winner of the 2024 US presidential election
What exactly is DOGE then?
To be clear, DOGE isn’t a government organization. While announcing DOGE, Trump pledged that the department’s work will be concluded by no later than July 4th, 2026. Interestingly, the date coincides with the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence.
Department of Government Efficiency pic.twitter.com/HFeHYNIkJN
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) September 7, 2024
In the administration’s own words, DOGE will ‘provide advice and guidance from outside the government’ on where it can function more efficiently. While campaigning with Trump, Elon Musk claimed he can ‘cut over $2 trillion from the government’s spending’. Just exactly how he plans on doing that could be anyone’s guess.
Musk isn’t the only one who is making bold statements. Former GOP presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, who is the other side of the ‘DOGE’ coin also shares his compatriot’s views. Ramaswamy, who is also a billionaire, famously advocated for the elimination of the Department of Education, something that the president-elect has also promised to do.
What’s the problem then?
While this isn’t the first time that an administration has tried to cut spending, DOGE certainly seems like the least structured. Firstly, critics are worried that the department’s functioning could result in budget cuts for many essential government functionaries, namely Social Security. Secondly, since DOGE isn’t officially a part of the government, it can’t action any of the budget cuts without approval from the congress, thereby questioning the department’s need in the first place.
What’s going on with the Department of Government Efficiency?
byu/PaleontologistNew440 inOutOfTheLoop
Critics have also raised questions about the department’s own efficiency with Elon Musk at the helm, a man who famously bought social media platform Twitter for $44 billion in 2022, renamed it to X and cut about eighty percent of the workforce. X is now valued at around $12.5 billion, experiencing a 71% drop in its valuation since Musk took over.
LIVE: #Crew8 returns home from their mission on the @Space_Station. Splashdown of the @SpaceX Dragon capsule is expected at 3:29am ET (0729 UTC). https://t.co/PdNQljsPoG
— NASA (@NASA) October 25, 2024
Elsewhere, Musk also holds billions of dollars worth of federal contracts with SpaceX — the billionaire’s space technology company, whilst his all-electric mobility company Tesla also benefitting from government’s tax credits for EVs. This raises questions about possible conflicts of interest with between Musk, the department as a whole and the federal government.
DOGE; what’s the latest?
With the announcement stating that DOGE will help in re-structuring the federal government, an official account was set up on X providing further details on how it shall function.
We are very grateful to the thousands of Americans who have expressed interest in helping us at DOGE. We don’t need more part-time idea generators. We need super high-IQ small-government revolutionaries willing to work 80+ hours per week on unglamorous cost-cutting. If that’s…
— Department of Government Efficiency (@DOGE) November 14, 2024
The most recent post on the account says they need ‘high- IQ small government revolutionaries willing to work 80+ hours a week on unglamorous cost-cutting’. The post also said the top 1% applicants will be reviewed by Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy.
What else is new with the Trump administration?
While the outgoing Biden administration had been widely criticized for their economic policies as well as their stance on the Israel-Gaza conflict, it remains to be seen what Trump’s views would be regarding the same.
Trump’s recent announcement of appointing Robert F Kennedy Jr. as the country’s new health secretary has also drawn criticism, with the latter’s views regarding vaccines drawing flak from the medical community. Another controversial pick is Pete Hegseth, a Fox news host and war veteran, who has never held any senior commanding positions in the US military.
BREAKING: Donald Trump has chosen Robert F Kennedy Jr as his new health secretary.
Sky’s @jamesmatthewsky reports. https://t.co/PAiZ4D1jU3
📺 Sky 501, Virgin 602, Freeview 233 and YouTube pic.twitter.com/06krLqkAND
— Sky News (@SkyNews) November 14, 2024
It’s barely been weeks since Trump won the election and there’s been no shortage of drama. With that said, the billionaire trio of Trump — who has filed for bankruptcy on multiple occasions — Elon Musk, a man famous for his efficiency when it comes to money from his range of successful and very reliable businesses like X, and Vivek Ramaswamy, will certainly try their best to use tax dollars as efficiently as they can.
Also Read: Trump appoints Elon Musk to DOGE, a new U.S. government department
