What Does President Trump Hope to Accomplish with DOGE?

During the 2024 Presidential campaign, President Trump focused much of his energy on government waste. That wasn’t a huge departure from some of the comments that he made during his first campaign, but in 2024, he spent a lot of time talking about how he would like to remedy the problem.

As America’s debt continues to grow, Donald Trump has said that he believes much of the problem could be rectified by overhauling governmental operations with a focus on eliminating waste.

With this in mind, the president-elect shared his plans to create a new department, which would be called the Department of Governmental Efficiency (DOGE). There has been a great deal of debate about this new department, as opponents of the once-and-future POTUS claim that this department will do more harm than good while officials who support Trump believe that he’s going to make positive changes by reducing government waste.

What should American citizens expect from this newly formed department? Learn more about DOGE and the men who will oversee it today.

What is DOGE?

DOGE, or the Department of Government Efficiency, is an advisory commission created by Donald Trump. Contrary to some concerns shared by Democrats and Republicans who don’t agree with many of Trump’s policies and methods, the department is not expected to actually be part of the United States legislative branch of government.

Instead, at least at this juncture, it’s expected to be an advisory committee that will help identify financial waste in the US government. The United States currently has more than $36 trillion in national debt, an issue that was at the backbone of President Trump’s 2024 campaign.

During his first campaign in 2016, President Trump spoke openly about the amount of money that he believes the government is wasting on outdated programs, unnecessary positions, and more.

While he spoke openly about revamping the government’s spending practices ahead of his first term in office, little changed. However, after reclaiming the White House, and becoming the first President since Grover Cleveland to serve two non-consecutive terms, President Trump put his plans into motion by forming DOGE.

The goal of the department is quite simple. It will be responsible for identifying waste and streamlining government operations in order to cut down on the national deficit.

Who is In Charge of DOGE?

Two men will be in charge of this new department. Elon Musk, who is one of the richest people in the world, has been seen with President Trump a lot in recent months. In August 2024, as he was further outlining his plans for revamping the government’s spending habits, President Trump said that he would be open to giving Elon Musk an advisory role in his administration.

Elon Musk has long been considered a pioneer when it comes to business. From the time he was a child, Musk focused heavily on robotics, which helped put him in such a prominent position with Tesla, a company that he’s credited with co-founding.

In addition to his work with Tesla, Musk is also the founder of SpaceX, a company that continues to explore the possibilities of sending people into space who aren’t astronauts. A few years ago, he also purchased Twitter, which he has since rebranded as X.

As part of Musk’s business strategy, he often examines areas of a business that he considers wasteful when he purchases them. By identifying redundant tasks and areas that don’t add to the value of a company, Musk has managed to amass a net worth of more than $337 billion, making him the richest person in the world.

However, he will not be running this advisory committee on his own. He will be joined by Vivek Ramaswamy, another entrepreneur who has a history in politics. In 2016, Ramaswamy ran for the Republican nomination for president, which eventually went to Donald Trump ahead of his first term.

Ramaswamy rose to prominence in the business world in 2014 when he founded Roivant Sciences, a pharmaceutical company. Ramaswamy, who was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, to parents who immigrated from India, graduated from Harvard with a B.S. in biology and eventually graduated from Yale Law School.

At only 39 years of age, he is still considered one of the most promising young names in the Republican party. He already has a net worth of $1 billion, and much like Trump and Musk, believes that many of the United States’ financial issues could be fixed by eliminating unnecessary positions and departments and further streamlining operations.

What are the Plans for DOGE?

DOGE’s mission statement is simple. The department exists to identify waste in government spending and take steps to remedy the situation. The methods by which the department will be carrying out this mission remain to be seen, though. We do know that Ramaswamy and Musk will be evaluating various departments to help President Trump craft budgetary proposals that will be presented to Congress.

The formation of this department is thought to be directly linked to the victory that the Republican party enjoyed in November’s election. The Republicans now not only have the White House but also the Senate and the House of Representatives, which means many of the President’s budget recommendations may not face much resistance.

President Trump has stated that he hopes this department will help “dismantle government bureaucracy,” a vague statement that sounds somewhat like his promise to “drain the swamp” ahead of his first term. It is worth noting that there is already a department that conducts regular reviews on government spending.

The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) does many of the things that President Trump has stated that DOGE will be doing. However, he has promised that this department will be unique in that it’s not an official government department.

Employees of the OMB are employees of the federal government, and therefore, may have personal reasons to keep things operating as they have been. By bringing in a new department with no formal government ties, President Trump hopes to “drive out government waste and fraud.”

The federal government spends around $6 trillion annually. Elon Musk has already stated that he believes he can find roughly $2 trillion in waste and fraud. While Ramaswamy has not been as open about specific numbers, he has, along with Musk, identified some federally funded programs that he believes could be cut including Pell Grants, federal prisons, Head Start programs, and more.

Musk has been clear about his belief that the government should be spending the public’s money “wisely,” and says that he expects mass layoffs of federal employees and the removal of entire departments.

However, if DOGE wants to bring this to fruition, it will need to act quickly. President Trump has been clear about the fact that he does not expect DOGE to be a permanent entity. In fact, he doesn’t expect it to last his entire term.

President Trump has said that he expects DOGE’s work to be completed by July 2026. When asked about this deadline for the new department, President Donald Trump said, “A smaller Government, with more efficiency and less bureaucracy, will be the perfect gift to America on the 250th Anniversary of the Declaration of Independence.”

Trump’s political opponents have shared their fears about just how far-reaching these cuts may be. Many of the programs that Musk and Ramaswamy have discussed cutting provide benefits to millions of Americans. It remains to be seen if those programs will be replaced with more cost-effective alternatives or face permanent removal.

Ultimately, no one knows exactly what DOGE will do or how many people will be impacted by its recommendations. However, we can expect to hear more news about DOGE’s changes in the days following January 20, 2025, when President Trump takes his second oath of office.