Vivek Ramaswamy on DOGE plan: Elon Musk and I will take chainsaw to bureaucracy

Indian-origin entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy vowed to overhaul American bureaucracy alongside Tesla CEO Elon Musk under their newly formed Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), declaring their intent to “take a chainsaw” to inefficiency in Washington.

Ramaswamy, a former Republican presidential contender, thanked US President-elect Donald Trump for entrusting him and Musk with this high-stakes initiative and outlined their ambitious plans for the DOGE.

"Elon Musk and I are in a position to start the mass deportations of millions of unelected federal bureaucrats out of the D.C. bureaucracy," he told attendees at a gala hosted at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida on Thursday.

"And I don't know if you've got to know Elon yet, but he doesn't bring a chisel, he brings a chainsaw, and we're going to be taking it to that bureaucracy,” the biotech CEO added. "It's going to be a lot of fun."

The chainsaw may have been a reference to Argentina’s President Javier Milei, infamous for introducing bold austerity measures after taking office. An economic libertarian and self-declared “anarcho-capitalist”, Milei campaigned wielding a chainsaw, which he vowed to take to his country’s bureaucracy and fiscal deficit.

The DOGE initiative is designed to "slash excess regulations, cut wasteful expenditures, and restructure Federal Agencies," according to Trump's announcement.

Days after his re-election, Trump tapped Musk and Ramaswamy as co-leaders of the DOGE. Nicknamed after Musk's favourite cryptocurrency, DOGE aims to streamline federal operations while slashing wasteful spending. Despite its name, the department will operate outside government.

Meanwhile, Musk and Ramaswamy committed to being transparent with the American public about their department’s operations and functioning through weekly “Dogecasts” livestreamed on X, the social media platform owned by Musk.

"Our goal is to shave the size of government and to be as transparent as possible with the public," Ramaswamy explained. " We are assembling the brightest minds in the country. This is the equivalent of a modern Manhattan Project."

The billionaire duo is wasting no time. The DOGE announced recruitment efforts on X, seeking “super high-IQ, small-government revolutionaries” willing to dedicate over 80 hours per week to cost-cutting.

Applicants must message DOGE directly on X, a move that requires a paid subscription to Musk’s platform. “Elon & Vivek will review the top 1% of applicants,” the statement promised.

Critics warn the DOGE could destabilise critical government functions, but Ramaswamy insists the cuts are vital for innovation and cost control.

“We've been taught to believe that we’re a nation in decline, but last week proved otherwise,” he said. “DOGE's job is to create a government of a size and scope that our Founders would be proud of.”

With PTI inputs