Musk was tapped to lead a department of government efficiency

Reply to Musk and Ramaswamy in his Decree to Save the ‘Save America’ Campaign’: A New Look at a “Fed-Prime Minister’s Report’

He promised to reduce the federal government’s role when he withdrew from the presidential race in January to endorse Trump. His policy proposals included slashing the Federal Reserve workforce by at least 90% and deporting American-born children of undocumented immigrants.

He has a record of cutting spending within his businesses. After buying X, he conducted mass layoffs, vastly reducing the size of the company from 8,000 to 1,500 people.

Musk went on to weigh in on spending cuts while speaking to Trump supporters at a rally in New York City ahead of Election Day, arguing the budget for the federal government could be significantly shrunk by “at least” $2 trillion.

Musk became a major supporter of Trump in the final leg of his presidential bid, appearing on the campaign trail and spending more than $100 million on organizing efforts through his super PAC, “America PAC.” His political contributions overtook the entire amount of public donations from the oil industry.

Musk has a role in the administration that raises questions about his interests. He could potentially gain regulatory authority over federal agencies that oversee many of his companies that receive government funding, including Tesla, SpaceX and Starlink. Federal investigations have also been taking place with Musk’s companies.

While most department heads have to be confirmed by the Senate, it’s unclear what formalities Musk and Ramaswamy will have to go through for these roles.

“We will not go gently,” Ramaswamy said in a post on X in response to the news while tagging Musk, who commented separately in Trump’s original announcement.

The appointment also brings Ramaswamy, a biotech entrepreneur and former Republican presidential candidate, officially into Trump’s administration after he was reported to have once been under consideration for vice president.

“Together, these two wonderful Americans 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,” Trump wrote. “I look forward to the Federal Bureaucracy being changed with an eye towards efficiency and a desire to better the lives of all Americans.”

Dots in the Dog: Why Do Federal Employees Work Harder? How Fail to Act During the First Congressional Reionization

While it is not yet clear whether this entity will exist within the federal government or outside, an official government agency cannot be created without an act of Congress.

A day after the announcement of the new agency, President Trump referred to it as the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), an apparent wink to the dog-themedcryptocurrencies that started as a joke and exploded after Musk’s promotion.

Nicole Cantello, an attorney for the EPA and the president of the union that represents EPA workers in the Upper Midwest, says that people are afraid.

Roughly 2 million civilians work for the federal government. National security and public health are protected all over the country. They ensure food is safe and veterans are cared for.

At the tail end of his first term, Trump issued an executive order that created a new category called Schedule F, which was supposed to help him fire career civil servants and replace them with loyalists.

Donald Kettl, professor emeritus at the University of Maryland School of Public Policy, says he’s certain it will be back in the next Trump administration.

They see Schedule F as being a good idea because they waited too late to launch, so they plan on doing it in relatively short order.

Earlier this year, the federal Office of Personnel Management issued a rule to make it harder to convert career federal employees into political appointees who can be fired at will.

Some federal workers remember it was difficult to do their jobs during Trump’s first presidency, even though the commission wanted to slash regulations and jobs.

She describes how the changes made it hard to do their job. Lawyers can now not directly ask companies about the pollutants they are discharging. The information was sent through headquarters, instead of going to the regional offices.

She says if you put an additional bureaucratic roadblock in, they can sit on it for a long time. “And then you don’t enforce the law.”

A Federal Worker’s View of the Republican Party: When Congress Retrained the Great Lakes Regional Office of the Environmental Protection Authority in Kansas City

The Great Lakes regional office of the EPA was supposed to be in Chicago but was changed to Kansas City hundreds of miles from the lakes. The idea was dropped after members of congress voiced their opposition.

She says that a lot of people feel like they put in four years. They are not going to do that this time because it took so much out of them.

Last month, a conservative group called the American Accountability Foundation issued a watchlist of what it calls “subversive, leftist bureaucrats” who cannot be trusted to enforce immigration laws.

“That’s unnerving,” says Marcus Hill, president of the Senior Executives Association, which represents some 8,000 senior executives in the federal government. They are the highest-ranking civil servants, who help political appointees carry out their agendas in a lawful manner.

Hill, who spent 38 years in government including as a senior executive, says it’s concerning and offensive that there is doubt about the motives of people who have chosen to serve their country.

He says that he understood his role and responsibilities when he supported the Republican administration.

Hill says career civil servants swear an oath to defend and uphold the Constitution, and not to join any party or president.

Source: ‘Apprehensive and fearful’: Federal workers await a dismantling under Trump

The Particles Aren’t the Kid’s Brain: How to Tell Your Senators If You Can, Then You Can’t Eat Them

Even with the creation of the Department of Government Efficiency, it isn’t likely that federal employees will be fired in large numbers. The move would be bad for the administration because it would undermine Trump’s ability to get anything done.

“Who wants to read, if you’re on the inside of the new government, that unsafe drugs have been unleashed on the public, or that it’s not safe to buy Cheerios in the grocery store?” he says.

“If you succeed in getting your message across, then you don’t need to chop everybody’s head off,” says Kettl. You have to telling everyone that you’re serious about this.