Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy’s DOGE became Elon Musk’s DOGE

The Department of Government Efficiency (or DOGE) Until this week, led by Trump aides Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, it claimed it wanted to restructure the federal bureaucracy and save money. lays off a large number of civil servants. Ironically, however, the first employee DOGE turned down is one of its own: Ramaswamy.

“It was an honor to help establish DOGE,” said Ramaswamy he tweeted on Mondayafter persistent rumors of his ouster. “I am confident that Elon and his team will be successful in regulating the government.” Ramaswamy’s sudden exit from DOGE was accompanied by rumors that the billionaire was poised to board. Gubernatorial campaign in Ohio. “I will have more to say about my future plans in Ohio very soon,” Ramaswamy said Monday.

Ramaswamy has been largely out of the MAGA world since his controversial tweet in December. H-1B temporary worker visa and skilled immigrants criticize a part of American culture that “respects mediocrity over excellence.” The tweet set off an infighting in Trumpworld and exposed an ideological divide between MAGA types who appreciate skilled immigrants and those who probably don’t.

A source close to Ramaswamy told the press that he is on good terms with Musk that it will be “cheers the DOGE” from outside. Trump’s transition officials also tried to portray the sudden departure in a favorable light. “Vivek Ramaswamy was instrumental in helping us establish DOGE,” he said transition spokeswoman Anna Kelly. “He intends to run for elected office soon, which would require him to remain outside the DOGE under the structure we announced today. We are extremely grateful for his contributions over the past two months and look forward to him playing an important role in making America great again.”

However, other reports have been less charitable about the situation. Indeed, a recent Politico report makes it sound like Ramaswamy was outed by Musk with extreme prejudice. Republican strategist said in his speech Ramaswamy “just burned bridges and finally burned Elon.” The strategist added, “Everybody wants him out of Mar-a-Lago, D.C.” The article further claims that Musk “made it clear he wanted Ramaswamy out of DOGE,” citing three people familiar with the situation.

Ramaswamy’s tweets on H1B visas were partly due to his removal from DOGE. “They wanted to get him out before the tweet — but when it came out, they threw him out,” a source told Politico.

If its overall mission is clear, DOGE — until this week — has remained largely amorphous. It calls itself a “department” of the government, but it’s not one, and while it claims broad powers (including the ability to “remove” federal agencies), it’s unclear what legal or regulatory authority it actually has. Nobody outside the organization seems to know who pays the salaries of the organization’s employees. Increasingly, DOGE is seen as an entity controlled by Musk and working for his interests. The Washington Post writes previously reported About 50 employees of DOGE worked in their offices SpaceXowned by the defense contractor Musk. In addition, one of the best managerial roles in DOGE is now Invaded by Steve Davishe is also currently Musk’s president Drilling Company. Davis has been called Musk’s “cost cutter” and helped implement an aggressive layoff strategy at Twitter, especially when Musk laid off nearly 6,000 employees. reducing its total workforce by 80 percent.

This week, Trump brought some clarity to the issue signed the order Under Obama, he reorganized the government’s modernization arm, the US Digital Service, into the US DOGE Service. However, this EO doesn’t speak much of the broad powers necessary to achieve Musk’s detailed, government-overturning goals. Instead, his first order of business will be to modernize “information technology across government” and update the agency’s software to private-sector standards. A fact sheet associated with the order further claims that DOGE “will work with the Office of Management and Budget and all agencies to reduce federal workforce, federal spending and federal regulatory burdens,” Semaphore previously reported.

With Ramaswamy’s departure, Musk only seems to be consolidating his power. The New York Times informed On Monday, Musk will likely occupy office space in the West Wing itself, giving him close and continuous access to Trump.

National Security Advisors public interest law firm Minutes after Trump’s inauguration, he sued the DOGEclaims that in his lawsuit – the DOGE is effectively a presidential advisory committee that does not follow regulatory protocol. Under the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA), advisory committees are required to follow certain transparency and hiring rules, Washington Post reports. If the DOGE is really an advisory group (as some press has it claimed to be similar) must follow these rules.

Kel McClanahan, executive director of the National Security Advisers, told the Post that “if the Trump administration changes the structure of DOGE to become a government office, it could potentially discuss the case.” “But it will be subject to a set of ethical laws that I don’t think Musk and others want to follow.” There is also DOGE Sued by Public Citizenthe non-profit consumer advocacy organization similarly claims DOGE is violating the law by not following the advisory committee’s rules. Meanwhile, the project started itself .gov certified website on tuesday. Here’s what it looks like now: