The DOGE of Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy becomes the DOGE of Elon Musk

U Department of Government Efficiency (or DOGE) which until this week was led by Trump acolytes Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, has said he wants to restructure the federal bureaucracy and save money lay off a large number of government employees. In an ironic twist, however, the first employee DOGE fired is one of its own: Ramaswamy.

“It was my honor to help support the creation of DOGE,” Ramaswamy he tweeted on Mondayafter the continuous rumors of his ouster. “I am convinced that Elon and the team will succeed in simplifying the government.” Ramaswamy’s abrupt departure from DOGE was accompanied by rumors that the billionaire was preparing to move on. a gubernatorial campaign in Ohio. “I will have more to say very soon about my future plans in Ohio,” Ramaswamy said Monday.

Ramaswamy had been largely absent from MAGA-world since December, when he controversially tweeted about H-1B temporary worker visa and skilled immigrants, condemning a part of American culture that “worshipped mediocrity over excellence.” The tweet started infighting in Trumpworld and exposed an ideological divide between MAGA types who appreciated skilled immigrants and those who, apparently, did not.

A source close to Ramaswamy told the press that he remains on good terms with Musk and that he will be “Happy to DOGE” on the side. Trump’s transition officials also sought to cast the sudden departure in a favorable light. “Vivek Ramaswamy played a critical role in helping to create DOGE,” he said transition spokeswoman Anna Kelly. “He intends to run for elected office soon, which requires him to remain outside DOGE based on the structure we announced today. We thank him immensely for his contributions over the past 2 months and look forward to him playing a vital role in making America great again.”

However, other reports have been less charitable about the situation. Indeed, a recent Politico report makes a lot of noise that Ramaswamy was forced out with extreme prejudice by Musk. A Republican strategist he told the outlet that Ramaswamy “just burned through the bridges and finally burned Elon.” The strategist added, “Everybody wants him out of Mar-a-Lago, out of D.C.” The article also claims that Musk “made it known he wanted Ramaswamy out of DOGE,” citing three people familiar with the situation.

Ramaswamy’s tweet about H1B visas was partially credited with his removal from DOGE. “They wanted him out before the tweet — but they kicked him to the curb when he came out,” a source told Politico.

If its overall mission is clear, DOGE has – until this week – remained largely amorphous. It calls itself a government “department,” but it’s not one and, while it claims enormous powers (including the ability to “delete” federal agencies), it’s unclear what legal or regulatory authority it actually has. No one outside the organization seems to know who pays the salaries of the organization’s staff. Furthermore, DOGE appears to be an entity controlled by, and working in Musk’s interests. The Washington Post has it reported earlier that the 50 staffers of DOGE worked out of the offices of SpaceXMusk’s defense contract. Also, one of the first managerial roles in DOGE is now occupied by Steve Daviswho is still today the president of Musk’s Boring Company. Davis has been called Musk’s “cost cutter” and notably helped Musk pursue his aggressive layoff strategy at Twitter, when Musk fired about 6,000 employees. reducing its overall workforce by 80 percent.

This week, Trump clarified things a bit when he issued an executive order which reorganized an Obama-era government modernization unit, the United States Digital Service, and turned it into the US DOGE Service. That EO, however, doesn’t say much about the sweeping powers needed to accomplish Musk’s verbose, government-busting goals. Instead, his first order of business will be to modernize “information technology in government” and update the agency’s software to private sector standards. A fact sheet linked to the order also says DOGE “will work with the Office of Management and Budget and all agencies to reduce the federal workforce, federal spending and federal regulatory burdens,” Semafor previously reported .

With Ramaswamy’s departure, it appears that Musk has only continued to solidify his power. The New York Times reported On Monday Musk will occupy an office space in the West Wing itself, giving him close and continuous access to Trump.

The public interest law firm National Security Counselors sued DOGE just minutes after Trump’s inaugurationArguing – in his suit – that DOGE is effectively a presidential advisory committee that does not adhere to regulatory protocol. Under the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA), advisory committees are required to follow certain rules of transparency and hiring, the Washington Post. reports. If DOGE is, indeed, an advisory group (as some press reports have it supposed to appear) would need to follow these rules.

“If the Trump administration changes the structure of DOGE to be a government office, this could be discussed the case,” Kel McClanahan, executive director of the National Security Council told the Post. “But that subjects Musk and others to a lot of ethics laws that I don’t think they want to be subject to.” DOGE is still being charged by Public Citizena non-profit consumer advocacy organization, which similarly alleges that DOGE is violating the law by not adhering to the advisory committee’s regulations. Meanwhile, the project launched its own .gov certified website on tuesday Here’s what it looks like now: