Vivek Ramaswamy may step away from working with the Department of Government Effectiveness ahead of his candidacy for Ohio governor, which he plans to formally announce by the last week of January, according to a person close to the file.
Ramaswamy’s potential departure could upend DOGE, which aims to cut government spending by up to $2 trillion by July 4, 2026 – by which time his campaign for Ohio governor will need to be well underway . After the election, Ramaswamy informed transition members that he planned to run for governor, a person familiar with the transition matter said.
Ramaswamy’s move gained momentum when Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine replaced Ramaswamy to replace Vice President-elect J.D. Vance in the Senate on Friday, choosing his own Lt. Gov. Jon Husted instead.
Several people who discussed Ramaswamy and the inner workings of DOGE were granted anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly and freely discuss sensitive issues.
On Saturday, Ramaswamy appeared at a DOGE general meeting at SpaceX headquarters in Washington, according to two people familiar with the department’s inner workings. Musk was not present.
The division of labor between Musk and Ramaswamy, according to a person close to him, was that Musk focused on the big picture while Ramaswamy focused on deregulation; the rest of the staff will focus on implementation. Steve Davis, Musk’s right-hand man at SpaceX, is his DOGE lieutenant, while healthcare entrepreneur and Rhodes Scholar Brad Smith is Ramaswamy’s main point of contact.
Privately, some in Trump’s world see Ramaswamy’s burgeoning campaign for governor as a way to clear the way for Musk to do his own job at the agency without him.
“Elon basically runs the show,” said an informal Trump adviser. This person added: “Time is their biggest enemy. We’ll see.
Musk has already lowered his expectations. “I think we’re going to try to achieve $2 trillion (in savings), I think that’s the best-case scenario,” Musk recently told Stagwell CEO Mark Penn, a former adviser to Bill Clinton. “But I think you kind of have to have some surplus. If you’re trying to get two trillion, you have a good chance of getting one.
Rep. Ro Khanna, the California Democrat who represents Silicon Valley, who has maintained a relationship with Musk over the past decade and has sometimes defended Ramaswamy, said DOGE remains an open question.
“What I said is that Democrats should articulate their own vision for how we reduce waste in government and ensure that investments are in the best interests of the American people, and I I outlined the five priorities of the Department of Defense (Defense Budget) where we can make these reductions,” Khanna said. “But as far as what DOGE is going to do, it’s not clear for. the moment.”
Until now, DOGE has remained secretive, conducting most of its business through Signal, the encrypted messaging app, and at SpaceX’s offices in Washington.
A person familiar with the internal workings of DOGE said several executive orders related to its jurisdiction are expected during the first week of the Trump administration, including one that addresses government contracts and one that determines how the workforce DOGE’s work is integrated across the federal government. government.
A representative for Musk and a spokesperson for the transition did not respond to requests for comment. Katie Miller, who Trump nominated to DOGE and who is the wife of deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller, declined to comment. A spokesperson for Ramaswamy also declined to comment.
