United States President-elect Donald Trump has appointed X owner Elon Musk to a role aimed at creating a more efficient government in the country.
The appointment handed more influence to Musk, the world’s richest man, who donated millions of dollars to helping Trump get elected.
Musk and former Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy will co-lead a newly created Department of Government Efficiency, an entity Trump indicated will operate outside the confines of government.
Trump announced the appointments via a statement on Tuesday, November 12, 2024.
The President-elect noted that Musk and Ramaswamy “will pave the way for my Administration to dismantle Government Bureaucracy, slash excess regulations, cut wasteful expenditures, and restructure Federal Agencies.”
Trump said the new department will realise long-held Republican dreams and “provide advice and guidance from outside of government,” signalling the Musk and Ramaswamy roles would be informal, without requiring Senate approval and allowing Musk to remain the head of electric car company Tesla, social media platform X, and rocket company SpaceX.
The new department would work with the White House and Office of Management and Budget to “drive large scale structural reform, and create an entrepreneurial approach” to government never seen before, Trump said.
The work would conclude by July 4, 2026 – the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, Reuters reported.
Musk, ranked by Forbes as the richest person in the world, already stood to benefit from Trump’s victory, with the billionaire entrepreneur expected to wield extraordinary influence to help his companies and secure favourable government treatment.
With many links to Washington, Musk gave millions of dollars to support Trump’s presidential campaign and made public appearances with him.
Adding a government portfolio to Musk’s plate could benefit the market value of his companies and favoured businesses such as artificial intelligence and cryptocurrency.
Ramaswamy is the founder of a pharmaceutical company who ran for the Republican presidential nomination against Trump and then threw his support behind the former president after dropping out.
