Elon Musk’s “Department of Government Effectiveness” is just a temporary advisory group with a corny acronym

President-elect Donald Trump promises to create a bold new “government commission” tasked with cutting federal inefficiencies led by the tech billionaire Elon Musk. However, project he revealed on Tuesday was markedly more modest: Trump said Musk would co-chair an interim outside advisory group with a corny acronym and limited White House functions.

If this decision surprises or disappoints Musk, he won’t let it go. “This will send shock waves through the system and anyone involved with government waste, which is a lot of people!” Musk said, according to the statement. How Musk plans to send those shock waves remains unclear. Instead of creating a government commission or a new cabinet position — which would subject Musk to legislative oversight and all kinds of conflict-of-interest regulations — Trump is offering a 16-month consulting initiative, dubbed the “Ministry of Government Efficiency”. or DOGE. Musk will also share leadership duties with Vivek RamaswamyPharmaceutical businessman and former Trump challenger. Trump’s statement suggested that neither man would be employed by the federal government, which means their influence would only be likely. Open to consultation Office of Management and Budget. The entire project will also end on July 4, 2026, just 16 months after Trump’s inauguration.

This doesn’t mean Trump won’t succeed in wreaking havoc on the federal bureaucracy, something Musk has said he could cut. equal to 2 trillion USD. But it’s a far cry from Trump’s initially expected hopes of appointing Musk as “secretaries cut costs” or something similarly epic. And even if OMB accepts Musk’s recommendations, federal spending plans still must pass through Congress — where lawmakers are likely to balk at deep cuts and where control appears to be on the cards. What would Republican control of the House look like? much smaller than originally expected.

This arrangement probably worked out well for Musk and Ramaswamy, who now receive official-sounding titles without having to fully comply with the pesky ethics rules that apply to related employees. state. (It’s worth noting that DOGE can still be the subject Federal Advisory Committee Act, which sets certain ethics and accountability guidelines for advisory groups.) In early September, Musk posted to X that he would serve in the Trump administration without pay, title or recognition — a gesture you could interpret as altruism or a desire to circumvent standard procedures. Trump also hinted that Musk’s business entanglements could limit his role in the administration: “I would definitely put him in the Cabinet,” Trump said in August, “but I don’t know how he can do that with all the things he’s doing.”

Cabinet position or not, Musk has become a fixture in Trump’s orbit over the past week, zipping around Mar-a-Lago in a golf cart and joining the president-elect in events. high-level meeting. On Wednesday, politics reports that some members of Trump’s inner circle have starting to get tired of billionaire. One person said: “Elon is getting a little bigger than his butt.”