Elon Musk will head up the new ‘Department of Government Efficiency’ (Picture: Getty)
As Donald Trump prepares to re-enter the White House for the second time next week, Elon Musk will enter his new digs.
After he was re-elected, Trump confirmed Elon Musk would head a new department aimed at creating a more efficient government.
It’s now been revealed Musk will likely be housed in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, just a stone’s throw from the White House.
It puts him in the same building as the future office of Vice President-elect JD Vance, who will take over current VP Kamala Harris’ office in the building.
Former tenants of the building, which was built in the 1800s, include Theodore Roosevelt, William Howard Taft, Franklin Roosevelt, its namesake Dwight D. Eisenhower, Lyndon B Johnson, Gerald Ford, George HW Bush and more.
The new ‘department’ headed by Musk will be nicknamed ‘DOGE’, standing for the Department of Government Efficiency. It will be co-lead by Vivek Ramaswamy.
The building is home of the Vice President’s ceremonial office (Picture: AFP)
The historic building was first constructed in the 1800s (Picture: Getty)
The building also houses the Office of Management and Budget, the National Security Council and the ceremonial office of the Vice President, which is often seen in press conferences.
It also previously housed the secretaries of state, war and the navy.
However, issues around ethics in Musk’s new position have already been raised.
The NYT points out that all government employees fall under a law which bans them from taking part in any official government matters in which their families or businesses have a financial interest.
But Musk, the world’s richest man, owns multiple companies which have contracts with the federal government.
Trump named Musk as the new leader of ‘DOGE’ (Picture: Reuters)
This means his new ‘department’ will likely be subject to restrictions in working with certain matters.
In a statement, Trump previously said Musk and former Republican presidential candidate Ramaswamy ‘will pave the way for my Administration to dismantle Government Bureaucracy, slash excess regulations, cut wasteful expenditures, and restructure Federal Agencies’.
He also said the new department will realize long-held Republican dreams and ‘provide advice and guidance from outside of government’, signalling the Musk and Ramaswamy roles would be informal.
This means they wouldn’t require Senate approval – and could allow Musk to remain the head of electric car company Tesla, social media platform X and rocket company SpaceX with no ethical conflicts.
Musk posted on X: ‘Department of Government Efficiency. The merch will be (fire emojis).’
Later he added: ‘Threat to democracy? Nope, threat to BUREAUCRACY!!!’
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