Multi-billionaire Elon Musk is already getting to work on assembling the new Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) and his requirements might come as a surprise. However, they seem to line up with his history of calling for “hardcore” work ethic.
President-elect Donald Trump this week confirmed reports floating around since earlier this year that tech mogul Musk would take on a new government efficiency department in his administration. Musk is expected to lead the department with billionaire businessman Vivek Ramaswamy, who entered the national spotlight as a Republican presidential hopeful before dropping out in the primaries to endorse Trump.
“Together, these two wonderful Americans will pave the way for my Administration to dismantle Government Bureaucracy, slash excess regulations, cut wasteful expenditures, and restructure Federal Agencies – Essential to the ‘Save America’ Movement,” said a Tuesday press release from Trump.
By Thursday, the new DOGE profile on X – the company formerly known as Twitter that Musk took over and re-branded – revealed that thousands of Americans had already expressed interest in joining the new department. Furthermore, it said that Musk and Ramaswamy planned to review the top 1% of applicants.
As for the job requirements – what we know so far is that the DOGE leaders want hard workers on board with Trump’s vision.
“We don’t need more part-time idea generators. We need super high-IQ small-government revolutionaries willing to work 80+ hours per week on unglamorous cost-cutting. If that’s you, DM this account with your CV,” said the post.
Back when Musk took over Twitter around two years ago, he reportedly told employees that they would have to be “extremely hardcore” in an email sent out at midnight. He also laid off around 50% of the company’s employees, a move that spurred others to quit. Musk has also revealed that he lived in factories for Tesla, the electric car company his is CEO of, and even slept on the factory floors, per Business Insider.
As for DOGE, Musk said: “This will send shockwaves through the system, and anyone involved in Government waste, which is a lot of people!”
According to Trump, the initiative “will become, potentially, ‘The Manhattan Project’ of our time,” referencing the government research project that resulted in the development of the first atomic bomb. He added that DOGE “will provide advice and guidance from outside the Government, and will partner with the White House and Office of Management & Budget to drive large scale structural reform, and create an entrepreneurial approach to government never seen before.”
A large part of the department’s task will be to eliminate what Trump called “massive waste and fraud which exists throughout our annual $6.5 Trillion Dollars of Government Spending,” and to create a smaller government with less bureaucracy. Trump also gave them a due date of July 4, 2026 to conclude the work – the 250th Anniversary of The Declaration of Independence.
“Working overtime to ensure your tax dollars will be spent wisely!” said the DOGE X account in a Wednesday post.
According to USA Today, the impacts of DOGE have already started appearing in the cryptocurrency space. It said that Dogecoin, meme cryptocurrency often associated with Musk, soared in value after Trump made the announcement of the department with a similar name.
As of Friday, Musk was the richest person in the world, according to Forbes. While he is from South Africa originally, Musk became a U.S. citizen in 2002, according to the BBC.