Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy received a rapturous welcome to Capitol Hill Thursday as questions piled up about exactly what the goals are for their extra-governmental “Department of Government Efficiency” (DOGE).
Musk wasn’t overly interested in clarifying as he moved between meetings on Capitol Hill Thursday.
At one point, as he passed, a reporter shouted out “What’s DOGE?” The world’s richest man didn’t stop and only offered a chuckle in response.
But the duo’s (perhaps strategic) ambiguity may be helping the effort for now, with a range of players from Republicans to Democrats to business leaders all offering supportive words but offering dramatically different reasons.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk, co-Chair of the newly announced Department of Government Efficiency, carries his son “X” on his shoulders at the U.S. Capitol between meetings with lawmakers in Washington. (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images) ·Andrew Harnik via Getty Images
Some business leaders like the idea of regulation cuts and a more stable deficit situation, not to mention the potential business opportunities that DOGE may provide.
Republicans, meanwhile, are often more eager to use DOGE to take what House Speaker Mike Johnson often likens to a blowtorch to the regulative state.
For now, the ebullient mood on Capitol Hill Thursday was part of a range of clear early economic tailwinds President-elect Donald Trump is enjoying even as he won’t take office for another 6 weeks.
Thursday’s meeting was orchestrated by Johnson, who outlined an agenda focused on “major reform ideas to achieve regulatory rescissions, administrative reductions, and cost savings.”
Indeed many lawmakers attending the series of meetings that Musk and Ramaswamy held Thursday echoed the focus.
Talking to reporters on Thursday around his own meetings with Musk, Speaker Johnson added that he saw his and his colleagues’ roles in the effort as about launching investigations to find the waste, fraud, and abuse in government and then “lay it bare for the American people [and presumably DOGE] to see.”
But others watching from the sidelines Thursday have offered somewhat different reasons for their support.
Rep. Jared Moskowitz became the first Democrat to join the House’s “DOGE caucus” in large part because of his focus on breaking up the Department of Homeland Security.
Senator Bernie Sander and Elon Musk. (Images: Getty Images)
Business figures have perhaps their own reasons.
Salesforce (CRM) CEO Marc Benioff, a former giver to both Democrats and Republicans, offered supportive words focused on using things like the technology to find efficiency, including some his company could provide.
Another undercurrent of CEO reaction so far is a wonder about whether Musk might use his new political sway to hurt his rivals.
“I believe pretty strongly that Elon will do the right thing and that it would be profoundly un-American to use political power to the degree that Elon would hurt competitors and advantage his own businesses,” OpenAI CEO Sam Altman offered Wednesday at the New York Times’s DealBook conference.
Part of the varied reasons for support could also be attributed to somewhat shifting messages from both Musk and Ramaswamy.
Musk laid down a seemingly immovable marker when he promised in October he could cut “at least 2 trillion” from the annual federal budget to put the US on a sustainable financial path..
Other times he has posted about the project, he has talked about the primary focus as on cutting regulations.
Ramaswamy offered a different top priority on the eve of Thursday’s gathering in an appearance at the Aspen Security Forum.
He said that only looking at DOGE as a means to cut the deficit “understates the impact we hope to have,” putting his No. 1 metric for success instead at increasing GDP growth.
He offered downsizing the federal deficit as his second most important metric followed by revived “sense amongst the citizens of this country that they can actually hold their government accountable” as a No. 3.
Vivek Ramaswamy, co-Chair of the newly announced Department of Government Efficiency, arrives at the U.S. Capitol ahead of meeting with lawmakers. (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images) ·Andrew Harnik via Getty Images
Many experts have questioned exactly how much DOGE will ultimately be able to execute, especially without the power to act unilaterally.
Slashing regulations could be a multi-year process with DOGE set to end in 2026. Likewise, the entire US discretionary budget is $1.7 trillion, meaning the committee will almost surely need to dip into programs like Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security to accomplish their goals.
And Ramaswamy has pushed off the question of those dicey “entitlement” cuts, saying recently “that’s a policy decision that belongs to the voters” and promising instead to focus on areas like mismanagement and “nail the savings we harness from that before just jumping to the question of taking away entitlements that people have paid into.”
“Musk’s experience with governance is limited,” geopolitical intelligence analyst Peter Zeihan added on Yahoo Finance’s Opening Bid podcast this week, adding that “Donald Trump is an ideas guy, not a details guy.”
But those details were far from top of mind as Musk criss-crossed the Capitol with his son on Thursday garnering attention everywhere he went.
“Lil X is having a great time,” he posted in between meetings.
Ben Werschkul is Washington correspondent for Yahoo Finance.
Every Friday, Yahoo Finance’s Rachelle Akuffo, Rick Newman, and Ben Werschkul bring you a unique look at how U.S. policy and government affects your bottom line on Capitol Gains. Watch or listen to Capitol Gains on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you find your favorite podcasts.
