The South Africa-born businessman has expressed many polarising views, from his pro-deregulation stances to promoting anti-vaccine conspiracy theories on his X platform. — AFP
President-elect Donald Trump's announcement that he has tapped Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy to lead the so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) sparked speculation over what the body is, how it could manifest during his second term, and what kind of role Musk could play.
Trump on Tuesday described DOGE as an outside body that would work in tandem with the Office of Management and Budget and the White House to gut government bureaucracy and wasteful spending and shake up federal agencies.
The president-elect boldly predicted the department could become the "Manhattan Project of our time," while Musk said it would "send shockwaves through the system".
The panel will complete its work by July 4, 2026, according to the statement said. In another post on Wednesday, Musk, who invested an estimated US$200mil (RM896mil) through his PAC to help elect Trump, vowed to get the task completed earlier.
From what DOGE is and isn't, to how Musk's name recognition could boost its public visibility, here are some perspectives from Houston experts on what the announcement could mean as Trump begins his new administration.
Is DOGE a department?
The Department of Government of Efficiency is not a department, that's the first thing people should make note of, said Se-Hyoung Yi, an associate professor of political science and director of the political science program at the University of Houston-Clear Lake.
"The term 'department' might be misleading from the beginning," Yi said in an email. "As Mr Trump has not laid out any specific plan to create a new cabinet position, we should assume that DOGE would be an informal advisory body to the president."
As an informal body, Musk or Ramaswamy, a former GOP presidential candidate, will not require Senate confirmation, like typical department heads, nor will they likely have to comply with the disclosures required of federal employees.
Trump's reference to the panel as a department could be semantics, said Mark P. Jones, a professor of political science at Rice University.
When a formal executive order comes through, the terminology may change, said Jones.
"He can call it whatever he wants, but it's not going to function as a department," he said.
What Trump's terminology says
The terminology also lends weight to the appointment, said Jones.
"From the public perspective, (Trump) is announcing it at the same time he's nominating the head of the department of defense, the EPA and state department, so its department, department, department," Jones said. "It definitely has that aura and gravitas of a cabinet post surrounding it even though it has nothing to do with the cabinet."
Under federal law, the formal term for DOGE would be a federal advisory committee, Jones said.
"Part of it is Trump saying that this is not your ordinary federal advisory committee, that this is an advisory committee on steroids," he said.
By calling it a department, added Jones, Trump could also be promoting public consciousness of the advisory panel and elevating the role of Musk and Ramaswamy, similar to when the president-elect appointed Tom Homan as "border czar" of his new administration, when there is no such position by that name.
"(Calling it a department) raises the status of Musk and Ramaswamy in that they're not co-chairing an advisory committee, they are co-directing a department – even though they are co-chairing an advisory committee," Jones said.
The Reagan precedent
There is precedent to the kind of group Trump is creating for his administration. The most famous of those was the Grace Commission, created by President Ronald Reagan during his first term through executive order, according to the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Museum website.
The commission was not funded by Congress, but organised and funded by corporate executives and volunteers, said Yi.
Reagan directed the commission to make recommendations to eliminate government waste and inefficiency, but its effectiveness, said Yi, was spotty.
Originally given six months in 1982 to review the entire federal executive branch and make its recommendation, the deadline was postponed until Jan 1984 near the end of Reagan's first term, and while the group would make more than 2,500 recommendations for reform, relatively few were implemented, Yi said.
"Many of them were ignored by Congress," he said.
Yi notes that Congress throughout both Reagan terms was sharply divided. Under a Trump presidency, a similar body may have better results.
As the GOP has gained control over both the House and Senate, "DOGE's suggestions might become more impactful than the Grace Commission's work in 1984," he said.
Where does Musk fit in?
The South Africa-born businessman has expressed many polarising views, from his pro-deregulation stances to promoting anti-vaccine conspiracy theories on his X platform.
As CEO of electric automaker Tesla and co-founder space technology company SpaceX, Musk topped Forbes' 2024 list of richest individuals in the world, but his effectiveness within the advisory remains to be seen, said Robert Stein, a political scientist and professor at Rice University.
"He has a full-time day job, and so the question becomes, 'What could he do?' – and I think the answer is, he may have some ideas and he may have people who can implement those ideas or at least see if they are feasible," said Stein.
While Musk has floated US$2 trillion (RM8.96 trillion) in cuts – nearly a third of the US$6.75 trillion (RM30.24 trillion) the federal government spent in 2024, Congress has control over government spending, and lawmakers regularly ignore presidential budget requests, which typically work more to signal the administration's priorities than actually guide federal spending.
Trump repeatedly proposed massive spending cuts during his first term that never fully materialised.
By attaching the Musk name to the advisory panel, Trump could also be sending something of a dog whistle to supporters, said Jones.
"One of (Trump's) biggest campaign promises was cutting fat, eliminating waste, and so it fits right in with a narrative, and then the person he's sending (to the panel) is somebody who the public would view as anti-swamp," Jones said.
Ronald Reagan used the phrase "draining the swamp" to allude to ridding Washington of lobbyists and special interests. Trump used the term during his 2016 campaign when vowing to eliminate corruption in Washington.
How effective could DOGE become?
With his influential social media platform and his notoriety, something the Grace Commission lacked, Musk may bring more light to any recommendations the panel makes to push agendas, said Jones.
"By having Musk involved, you've created a much higher public profile for the recommendations," he said. "Whatever recommendations the advisory committee comes up with will get a level of popularity and public awareness that dwarfs that of prior commissions simply through Elon Musk's involvement." – Houston Chronicle/Tribune News Service
