Donald Trump picks Vivek Ramaswamy, Elon Musk for new ‘efficiency dept’
US President-elect Donald Trump has picked Tesla CEO Elon Musk and Indian-origin American Vivek Ramaswamy to lead the newly created Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), aimed at improving governance and curbing wasteful expenditures.
Trump also named Pete Hegseth, a military veteran, to lead the world’s most powerful army as the next Secretary of Defence. The 44-year-old Hegseth served as an infantry officer in the National Guard and was deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan. He now co-hosts a news programme on US television station Fox News.
Describing the role of Musk and Ramaswamy, Trump said, “Together, these two wonderful Americans will pave the way for my administration to dismantle government bureaucracy, slash excess regulations, cut wasteful expenditure and restructure federal agencies.”
In a post on X, Ramaswamy said, “DOGE will soon begin crowdsourcing examples of government waste, fraud and abuse. Americans voted for drastic government reform and they deserve to be part of fixing it.”
Ramaswamy was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1985. His parents had migrated to the US from Kerala. His mother was a geriatric psychiatrist and his father worked as an engineer and patent lawyer at General Electric.
A biotech entrepreneur, Ramaswamy is married to Apporva Tewari, a doctor.
Ramaswamy had challenged Trump in the Republican presidential primary, but endorsed him in January.
During his campaign, Trump spoke about having a government efficiency commission to reduce spending. “As the first order of business, the commission will develop an action plan to totally eliminate fraud and improper payments within six months,” he had said in September.
On the proposed new US Defence Secretary, Trump said, “I have nominated Pete Hegseth to serve in my Cabinet as the Secretary of Defence.”
“Pete has spent his entire life as a warrior for the troops, and for the country. Pete is tough, smart and a true believer in America first. With Pete at the helm, America’s enemies are on notice — our military will be great again, and America will never back down,” Trump said.
A graduate of Princeton University, Hegseth also has a degree from Harvard University. He is an army combat veteran who served in Iraq and Afghanistan. “For his actions on the battlefield, he was decorated,” Trump’s announcement said.
Citing Hegseth’s book, “The War on Warriors,” Trump said: “The book reveals the left-wing betrayal of our warriors, and how we must return our military to meritocracy, lethality, accountability and excellence.” In Trump’s previous tenure (2017 to 2021), James Mattis was appointed Defence Secretary for the first two years. Mark Esper served for an year. In the remaining year, there were as many as four ‘acting’ defence secretaries.
Trump: doge to cut wasteful expenses
- Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) will improve governance, said Trump
- It will also curb wasteful expenditures, dismantle bureaucracy, cut regulations
- Musk and Ramaswamy’s work to conclude by July 4, 2026, said the Prez-elect
