US President-elect Donald Trump has picked Elon Musk to lead a newly created Department of Government Efficiency (Doge) for his incoming administration.

He announced that Vivek Ramaswamy, a biotech investor, will work with the SpaceX and Tesla founder on the project to “dismantle” bureaucracy.

The pair will provide external advice and work with the White House to “drive large scale structural reform”, said Trump.

Musk – a mega-donor to the Trump campaign – has been hotly tipped for a role in the incoming administration. Ramaswamy ran as a Republican candidate for president earlier this year, against Trump.

In Tuesday night’s announcement, Trump said the initiative would help the administration “dismantle Government Bureaucracy, slash excess regulations, cut wasteful expenditures and restructure Federal Agencies”.

It is not an official government department – such agencies have to be established through an act of Congress and typically employ tens of thousands of people. It is not clear how many staff the new advisory board will hire.

Trump said the Doge would work with the White House and Office of Management & Budget to tackle “massive waste and fraud”.

The president-elect likened the initiative to the Manhattan Project, a top-secret World War Two programme to develop the first nuclear weapons.

He said the pair would complete their work no later than 4 July (American Independence Day) 2026.

“A smaller Government, with more efficiency and less bureaucracy, will be the perfect gift to America on the 250th Anniversary of The Declaration of Independence,” Trump wrote.

In a press release from Trump’s campaign, Musk said: “This will send shockwaves through the system, and anyone involved in Government waste, which is a lot of people.”

After the announcement, Musk posted on his social media platform, X: “Threat to democracy? Nope, threat to BUREAUCRACY!!!”

Ramaswamy reposted Trump’s announcement on social media saying “we will not go gently”. He also said he was withdrawing from consideration to fill incoming US Vice-President JD Vance’s soon-to-be-vacated Ohio Senate seat.

Last year, while running for president, Ramaswamy said he would fire more than 75% of the federal work force and close down several major agencies, including the Department of Education, the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

The name of the new advisory board appears to be a reference to a cryptocurrency, Dogecoin, which was originally founded as a parody but went on to become a popular cryptocurrency.

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