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It's the dawn of a new era, and as Donald Trump heads into his second term, the 47th President of the United States has big plans to make America 'great' again.
With the incoming POTUS rumored to sign up to 200 executive orders on his first day, he’s also promised mass deportations, a 25% tariff on all Canadian and Mexican imports, a school funding overhaul, and his 'drill, baby, drill' agenda - among other things.
Trump has a lot on right now, but he isn't the only one who will be busy on January 20.
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Elon Musk finds himself in a new position of power, and although he won't be sworn in like Donald Trump, he's heading up the newly formed Department of Government Efficiency. The affectionately named DOGE is tasked with slashing $2 trillion of government spending, which is something even Musk has admitted now seems unlikely.
Musk and co-head Vivek Ramaswamy have put an expiry date on the DOGE, promising that it's not a permanent fixture of American politics. As for what they'll be doing on their first day, the pair are due to jump straight into suggesting budgetary and regulatory reforms.
Speaking to Business Insider, Rep. Aaron Bean of Florida, the co-chair of the House's DOGE caucus, explained: "The iron is not just hot, but it's molten."
Although DOGE is an advisory organization instead of a Congressionally authorized one, it's suggested that Musk and Ramaswamy will immediately look at making sweeping changes.
This includes Musk and other staff being embedded in the center of D.C. with an office in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building. It's said to be close to the Office of Management and Budget, which is a department the pair have said DOGE will be working closely with.
A source suggested that Musk and Ramaswamy will lead different departments, with the former focusing on broad spending and the latter on deregulation. The same source said DOGE will assign two staffers to 'most' federal agencies, with those who aren't embedded working on the US Digital Service.
James Fishback is the CEO of investment firm Azoria and an associate of Ramaswamy, telling the site: "DOGE will supercharge the US economy by cutting wasteful spending and eliminating anti-growth regulations."
Aside from Trump announcing Republican lawyer William McGinley and former administration official Katie Miller as official hires, Musk and Ramaswamy are said to be eying Silicon Valley and ech leaders for more positions. This includes venture capitalist Marc Andreessen and Boring Company president Steve Davis.
Musk and Ramaswamy met with members of the House and Senate's DOGE caucuses in December, with Reps. Bean and Blake Moore of Utah saying changes could be coming in the first quarter of the year. Moore also referred to 'DOGE Day' where he hopes lawmakers will drop a dozen bills.
It won't be easy though. Vice President Al Gore led a ballsy government reform initiative from 1993 to 2001, with Elaine Kamarck being a senior fellow at the nonpartisan Brookings Institute who assisted these efforts. Kamarck warned that some 400 recommendations were made in the first eight months, but it took years for many of them to be put into action.
Still, Musk and Ramaswamy managed to tank a Congressional spending bill before DOGE even came into power - controversially bringing the government to its knees.
There are still a lot of questions about what DOGE will and won't do, although Musk seems adamant that he's the right man for the job.
