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

D Department of Government Efficiency (or DOGE) Which, until this week, was led by Trump acolytes Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, claiming it wanted to restructure the federal bureaucracy and save money. Dismissal of large number of government employees. In an ironic twist, however, the first employee DOGE fires is one of his own: Ramaswamy.

“It was my honor to help make the dose,” Ramaswamy tweeted on MondayFollowing ongoing rumors of his ouster. “I am confident that Elon and team will succeed in streamlining the government.” Ramaswamy’s sudden departure from DOGE sparked rumors that the billionaire was preparing to mount A government campaign in Ohio. “I will have more to say soon about my future plans in Ohio,” Ramaswamy said Monday.

Ramaswamy has been largely sidelined in the MAGA-world since December, when he controversially tweeted H-1B temporary worker visa and skilled immigrants, rejecting a part of American culture that “honors mediocrity over excellence.” The tweet sparked an infighting in Trumpworld and exposed an ideological divide between MAGA types who applaud skilled immigrants and those who apparently don’t.

A source close to Ramaswamy tells the media that he is on good terms with Musk That he will be Trump’s transition officials, who “cheered on DOGE” from the sidelines, also tried to cast the sudden departure in a favorable light. “Vivek Ramaswamy has been instrumental in helping us build DOGE,” said Transformation spokeswoman Anna Kelly. “He intends to run for elected office soon, which requires him to be outside the DOGE based on the framework we announced today. We thank him immensely for his contributions over the last 2 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. In fact, a recent Politico report makes it sound very much like Ramaswamy was forced out by Musk with extreme prejudice. A Republican strategist told the outlet That Ramaswamy “just burned bridges and eventually he 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 for his removal from DOGE. “They wanted to fire him before the tweet — but kicked him out when it came out,” a source told Politico.

If its general mission is clear, DOGE – until this week – has remained largely amorphous. It calls itself a government “department” but isn’t one and, while it claims broad powers (including the power to “remove” federal agencies), it’s unclear what legal or regulatory authority it actually has. No one outside the organization knows who is paying the employees of the organization. More and more, DOGE appears to be controlled as an entity, and acting in the interests of Musk. The Washington Post gave As previously reported That DOGE’s 50-ish staff were working out of the office SpaceXMask owned defense contractor. Additionally, DOGE now has one of the top director roles Captured by Steve DavisWho is currently the president of Musk Boring company. Davis has been called Musk’s “cost cutter” and notably helped Musk pursue his aggressive layoff strategy at Twitter, when Musk laid off nearly 6,000 employees. It has reduced its overall workforce by 80 percent.

This week, Trump made things clear issued an executive order That reorganized the Obama-era government modernization unit, the US Digital Service, and transformed it into the US DOGE Service. That EO, however, doesn’t speak much to the sweeping powers needed to achieve Musk’s verbose, tear-down-the-government goals. Instead, its first order of business will be to modernize “information technology across government” and update agency software to private sector standards. A fact sheet related to the order also claims that DOGE will “work with the Office of Management and Budget and all agencies to reduce federal workforce, federal spending and federal regulatory burden,” Semafor previously reported.

With the departure of Ramaswamy, it would seem that Kasturi is only consolidating his strength. The New York Times Report Musk, who will likely occupy office space in the West Wing on Monday, will give him close and ongoing access to Trump.

Public interest law firm National Security Consultants Trump sued the DOGE minutes after his inaugurationArguing—in its case—that the 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 transparency and appointment rules, The Washington Post Report. If DOGE is indeed an advisory group (as some press reports have it It is a similar complaint) it must follow those rules.

“If the Trump administration were to change DOGE’s structure to a government office, it would potentially deal with the case,” National Security Counselors Executive Director Cal McClanahan told the Post. “But it would subject Musk and others to a whole bunch of ethics laws that I don’t think they want to be subject to.” DOGE is also happening Suits by public citizensA non-profit consumer advocacy organization, which similarly alleges that the DOGE is breaking the law by not complying with the Advisory Committee’s regulations. The project has already launched its own .gov-certified websites Here’s what it currently looks like on Tuesday: