JUANA SUMMERS, HOST:
Tonight, President-elect Donald Trump announced something totally new. Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy will lead what Trump is calling a department of government efficiency. NPR's Camila Domonoske joins us now. Hey there.
CAMILA DOMONOSKE, BYLINE: Hi.
SUMMERS: Camila, if you could, just start by telling us what should we know about this new department or agency or what should we call it exactly?
DOMONOSKE: Yeah. So we don't know much yet. This is totally novel. We're working with the details that have been released so far. Trump is calling this a department, but only Congress can create a department technically. So typically, something like this will be called a commission. And according to the press release that Trump's team put out, this will quote, "pave the way for my administration to dismantle government bureaucracy, slash excess regulations, cut wasteful expenditures and restructure federal agencies," which the press release sort of described as a long-standing Republican dream.
This commission was actually Elon Musk's idea. He proposed it to then candidate Trump in a conversation on his social media platform, X, months ago. And speaking of social media, I do think I have to note that the initials of the name, department of government efficiency - D-O-G-E. The terminally online in the audience might recognize that as doge, a reference to a cryptocurrency with a Shiba Inu dog icon, started as a joke. Musk embraced it. The value went up enormously after the election. I had to point that out.
SUMMERS: Understood. OK, so based on what we know so far, Camila, what will this group actually do?
DOMONOSKE: Yeah, Musk's proposal was a commission to make sure that taxpayer dollars are being wisely spent. And the president-elect says this group will provide advice and guidance, so recommendations for reform, essentially, with a deadline of July 4, 2026, to complete this work. In terms of the direction of that advice, I mean, it's pretty clear. Musk has previously argued that the budget for the federal government could be reduced by at least $2 trillion, which is nearly a third. And tonight, Musk tweeted or posted on X - threat to democracy? Nope, threat to bureaucracy.
SUMMERS: Camila, a question people might be asking is why Musk and Ramaswamy?
DOMONOSKE: Yeah, they're both very close allies of Trump. Musk backed his campaign to the tune of more than $100 million of his personal money. I also think it's worth noting that Musk conducted huge layoffs famously at X, formerly Twitter. After he bought it, he reduced the company's headcount from, he said, around 8,000 to around 1,500 people. Then you have Ramaswamy who, when he campaigned for president against Trump in the Republican primary, cutting 75% of the federal workforce was one of his campaign platforms.
SUMMERS: I want to close and go back to Elon Musk for a second. I mean, aren't his businesses very closely tied to the government?
DOMONOSKE: Yeah, I mean, you're talking about Tesla, SpaceX, Starlink. They've all received significant government contracts or, in some cases, large subsidies. Those are also, for now, heavily regulated areas - space, automotive. This has raised some concerns as this commission was being discussed that Elon Musk is going to have huge influence over the budgets for the agencies that oversee his companies and, in some cases, have investigated his businesses, you know, the SEC, the Justice Department and others. I will also note, you know, I cover Tesla as a car company, and some Tesla investors were already worried that Musk was doing too much, stretched too thin between his multiple companies, his constant social media presence, campaigning for Trump, and now a new role advising the government.
SUMMERS: NPR's Camila Domonoske, thank you.
DOMONOSKE: Thanks, Juana. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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