Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy: The Efficiency Czars

WITH DONALD TRUMP having swept to victory in the US presi­dential elections, the only thing everyone agrees on is it will not be business as usual. He will also be a president intent on cannibalising the system he is mandated to lead. Even in his first term, he was in many ways for less government and reduced regulations. This time the mission is on hyperdrive and that is because of the two people who he has put in charge of it. One is the world’s richest man, Elon Musk, who has in all his pathbreaking companies like Tesla, SpaceX and X, shown that very small teams can pull off gigantic feats. When he took over Twitter, later renamed X, he sacked 80 per cent of its employees. The second per­son, who along with Musk will enforce Trump’s vision, is Vivek Ramaswamy. He is of Indian origin and, though, not in the same league as Musk, has a net worth close to a billion dollars, having made it as an investor in biotech.

Musk came over publicly to Trump’s side toward the end of the election and bought in an enormous infusion of funds, his network of fellow new-age businessmen, and most importantly his own active everyday participation in the campaign and its strategy. He was at rallies, promoted Trump through posts on X to his 200 million followers, and got new media, like the podcast host Joe Rogan, behind Trump. Ramaswamy had a more tested route. Relatively unknown, he stood in the Republican primaries against Trump but even then refused to badmouth him. He then became a vocal supporter and a voice loudly speaking for Trump. Musk and Ramaswamy will now head something called as the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), a body that would over two years save $2 trillion by eliminating government wastage. It is one that uniquely comes with an expiry date. Trump’s statement announcing its formation said that it will conclude its work by July 4, 2026.

Ramaswamy, even while campaigning for himself in the primaries, had spoken for small government and said he would do away with the US Department of Education because it served no purpose. In Indian terms that would be like abolishing the Human Resource Development ministry. That might be extreme for Trump to do in a hurry, but Ramaswamy and Musk will get going along those lines with their charge. DOGE is a term coined by Musk and not a traditional government department. While exact details aren’t known yet, it is expected to work through the White House machinery to achieve its objectives. What works in their favour is the bonding that Trump has developed with Musk, who sits in for interviews to plum positions that Trump takes. As of now, Musk has a long rope for whatever he wants for DOGE.

He and Ramaswamy have both never been part of a government and don’t understand the intricacies of the bureaucracy they have to hack away. Government jobs are protected much more than private ones, so they cannot just sack whoever they want to as they would do in their companies. Also, Trump himself is famously fickle with his attention and affection. He might stop being enamoured with the idea and then that would be the end of the experiment. Musk might lose interest because he has more than enough going on developing his many businesses. He also has potential conflicts of interest given that regulations he has a hand in eliminating could benefit his companies like Space X and Tesla.

In theory, the US badly needs DOGE because its debt is getting out of control and that leads to inflation—a major factor for the Democrats losing. But governments are addicted to getting bigger. Breaking that pattern will not be easy. Musk and Ramaswamy being outsiders to the establishment is an asset in this. It is what Ramaswamy alluded to in a recent post on X, “Politicians have talked for a long time about cutting the size of government. But when they get inside, they go native. If we’re ever going to crush the bureaucracy, it’s going to happen from the outside. Just the hard truth.”

About The Author

Madhavankutty Pillai

Madhavankutty Pillai has no specialisations whatsoever. He is among the last of the generalists. And also Open chief of bureau, Mumbai  

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