Vivek Ramaswamy has announced that he and Elon Musk will be launching a new weekly podcast to share updates on the work they do in the so-called “Department of Government Efficiency,” otherwise known as DOGE.
The former 2024 Republican presidential candidate and the Tesla CEO were nominated by President-elect Donald Trump to head up DOGE, an ambitious initiative that Trump said on Truth Social would aim to “slash excess regulations, cut wasteful expenditures, and restructure Federal Agencies.”
The new podcast, called DOGEcast, will “explain exactly what we’re doing to the public to provide transparency in what is a once in a generation project,” Ramaswamy said in a video shared on Musk’s social media platform X, formerly Twitter.
“We want to bring the public along with us, to lift the curtain, to take us behind the scenes of what exactly that waste, fraud and abuse of government looks like – however bad you think it is, it’s probably worse,” he added.
BREAKING: Vivek just announced that he will be pausing his own weekly podcast to launch a new show with Elon called “DOGEcast,” which they will use to give the nation regular updates on their cost-cutting
I am going to be watching every single minute of their new show. Imagine… pic.twitter.com/NvkuGNyoIp
— George (@BehizyTweets) November 20, 2024
He added that more information about the DOGEcasts would be coming soon. Musk also commented on the post to add that they “will have guests” on the podcast.
The video was shared on Wednesday by the account @BehizyTweets, and has since accumulated more than 3.9 million views.
Newsweek has contacted the press offices for Musk and Ramaswamy outside of normal working hours via email for comment.
The DOGE acronym is an intentional nod to the popular cryptocurrency Dogecoin, which originated as an internet joke in 2013, but has since become widely recognized and is a fond crypto favorite of Musk’s.
Theda Skocpol, Professor of Government and Sociology at Harvard University, called DOGE and the podcast “a gimmick meant to entertain hard core MAGA people and distract the media from corruption and social benefit cuts.”
Musk’s role in Trump’s administration has raised concerns about whether it is a conflict of interest given his two major companies, Tesla and SpaceX, are the recipients of government contracts and subsidies.
Evan Vucci L) and Alex Brandon (R/AP
Public policy expert Donald Moynihan previously told Newsweek that “Musk has enormous and multiple conflicts of interest that should prohibit him from working in the Trump administration.”
“It becomes impossible to maintain the claim that the government will not now favor Musk when he has power over their agencies,” Moynihan added.
In response, Trump-Vance spokesperson Brian Hughes said, “The transition team will ensure the Department of Government Efficiency and those involved with it are compliant with all legal guidelines related to conflicts of interest.”
Economists have warned that the “Department of Government Efficiency” could make cuts to essential services impacting public safety, international relations and national security.
“Despite their business success, Musk and Ramaswamy haven’t shown a basic understanding of federal spending, ” said Brian Riedl, a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute.” Reducing costs requires examining the details of thousands of programs, not just making high-level cuts. It’s a complex task that impacts taxpayers—not just shareholders.”
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