Elon Musk’s future plans for the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE)

President-elect Donald Trump has announced a new temporary agency called the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), which will be led by Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy to overhaul the federal government, eliminate wasteful spending, and streamline operations to bring greater efficiency to public service.
Trump explained that Musk and Ramaswamy “will pave the way for my Administration to dismantle Government Bureaucracy, slash excess regulations, cut wasteful expenditures, and restructure Federal Agencies – Essential to the ‘Save America’ Movement.”
The Tesla boss has expressed, “A lot of people who are taking advantage of the government are going to be upset about it… I need a lot of security, but it’s got to be done, and if it’s not done, we’ll just go bankrupt.”
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Musk sees this initiative as critical to addressing the nation’s unsustainable fiscal path, pointing out, “Our defense budget is pretty gigantic. It’s a trillion dollars. The interest we owe on the debt is now higher than the defense budget. This is not sustainable. That’s why we need the Department of Government Efficiency.”
As part of DOGE.’s mission, Musk has promised maximum transparency, saying, “All actions of the Department of Government Efficiency will be posted online for maximum transparency. Anytime the public thinks we are cutting something important or not cutting something wasteful, just let us know!”
DOGE will maintain a “leaderboard” of wasteful government spending, which Musk believes will be “both extremely tragic and extremely entertaining.”
Musk also cited that the new administration’s efficiency program will prioritize a series of actions, including a 100-day effort focused on cost-saving reforms.
First, federal agencies will be directed to implement recommendations from oversight bodies like the Government Accountability Office (GAO) and Inspectors General, which, if executed, could yield over $200 billion in savings. The administration also plans to submit a reform package to Congress aimed at enacting further GAO recommendations that would require legislative support.
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Musk and Trump aim to restore the “one in, two out” policy on regulations, while also pursuing regulatory harmonization and utilizing artificial intelligence to cut government waste. The Department of Health and Human Services’ “Regulatory Clean-Up Initiative,” launched in 2020, will continue to leverage AI to identify areas for regulatory reduction.
Musk’s vision for DOGE is to make government more accountable to taxpayers by reining in excessive spending. “All government spending is taxation,” he stated