Draining the Swamp? Trump's Shock Cabinet Appointments of Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy Spark 'Conflict of Interest' Worries
Vivek Ramaswamy and Elon Musk's apppointment to Donald Trump's cabinet has sparked controversy.
Nov. 13 2024, Published 8:06 a.m. ET
Donald Trump has sparked conflict of interest concerns following his shock cabinet appointments of Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy.
RadarOnline.com can reveal the super rich duo will lead a new non-governmental Department of Government Efficiency under Trump's reign.
Musk has pledged to slash hundreds of agencies from the federal government.
However both men lead companies with existing, lucrative government contracts, which has raised questions over conflict of interest.
Musk, 53, runs firms including Tesla, SpaceX, X and Neuralink while Ramaswamy is a wealthy biotech entrepreneur.
In his statement announcing the new roles, president-elect Trump, 78, said of Musk and Ramaswamy:
"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."
Reacting to his appointment, and giving his view of what he sees as government bureaucracy, Ramaswamy, 39, posted to X to say "Shut it down."
Ramaswamy is a billionnaire who ran for Republican nomination.
Trump has tasked Musk to slash billions in government waste in his new role.
He said the tech tycoon and Ramaswamy will dismantle the $6.5 trillion federal government by co-leading the "Manhattan Project of our time" — dubbed the Dept of Government Efficiency or DOGE.
Writing on X, Musk pledged to slash hundreds of agencies from the federal government.
He and Trump hope to recapture the spirit of J. Robert Oppenheimer's Manhattan Project, which saw the first nuclear weapons developed in just three years between 1942 and 1945.
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Musk was a vocal supporter of Trump on his campaign trail.
Musk also posted a clip of his chat with Tucker Carlson where he declared that government largesse is so rampant, citizens won't even notice it's gone.
He said: "There are around 428 federal agencies. There's so many that people have never even heard of.
"I think we should be able to get away with 99 agencies."
Musk added in his Tuesday night post: "99 Federal agencies is more than enough" and emphasized the slashing was not a "threat to democracy" but a "threat to bureaucracy" - claiming he would be open to suggestions.
He wrote: "All actions of the Department of Government Efficiency will be posted online for maximum transparency.
Trump is excited by the duo's appointments.
"Anytime the public thinks we are cutting something important or not cutting something wasteful, just let us know."
He also added that he will have a "leaderboard for most insanely dumb spending of your tax dollars. This will be both extremely tragic and extremely entertaining."
Ramaswamy, another billionaire who ran for the Republican nomination, said in a post of his own, "We will not go gently, @ElonMusk."
However, liberals raged against Musk and Ramaswamy by claiming DOGE was not an official government department.
TV host Alex Wagner called it "Orwellian" on MSNBC and joked: "Vivek Ramaswamy and Elon Musk (are) being offered jobs in a fantasy football league."
Wagner was interviewing anti-Trump attorney George Conway, who branded it a "nonexistent department."
He added: "First of all, it’s not going to be a governmental department as I understand it and there are actually rules and statutes that apply, I think."
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