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It already looks like Elon Musk’s planned “outside of government” group is going to benefit his social media platform, X.
Musk and former presidential candidate and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy have been tapped by President-elect Donald Trump to lead the so-called “Department of Government Efficiency” (DOGE), a government task force Musk pitched months ago. The group, which aims to make recommendations for how Trump’s administration can tackle overregulation and restructure federal agencies, debuted on X this week.
The account’s direct messages were at first only open to X premium subscribers, who pay $8 or $16 a month. This became a problem after Musk posted on the page asking for applications to work at DOGE be sent via direct message, meaning aspiring civil servants would need to essentially pay a fee to X to apply to work for the government.
“We don’t need more part-time idea generators. We need super high-IQ small-government revolutionaries willing to work 80+ hours per week on unglamorous cost-cutting,” a new DOGE account on X posted on Thursday. “If that’s you, DM this account with your CV. Elon & Vivek will review the top 1% of applicants.”
The messages were later opened to the public.
Musk has said they aim to cut some $2 trillion from the budget, or about one-third of all federal spending. Details about DOGE, which appears to be an advisory board, are still sparse, including how many people will be employed, how large its budget will be, and how much taxpayer cash will go to support it.
Musk, in reply to another user on X, said, “this will be tedious work, make lots of enemies & compensation is zero.” It’s unclear if he is referring to applications for DOGE or his role, given his previous comments stating that “no pay, no title, no recognition is needed.”
Musk and Ramaswamy have also said they will provide weekly updates on the group’s progress over live stream. Trump said they will have until July 4, 2026, to complete its work, allowing them to give the “perfect gift to America” on the 250th anniversary of the Continental Congress adopting the Declaration of Independence.
“Our goal is to shave the size of government & to be as transparent as possible with the public. Weekly ‘Dogecasts’ will start soon,” Ramaswamy said Friday. “Can. Not. Wait.,” replied X CEO Linda Yaccarino, whose company can only benefit from increased traffic driven by Musk — the wealthiest man on the planet — or his fellows making an appearance.
Musk’s other companies also stand poised to benefit from his role in DOGE.
On Friday, Musk agreed with investor Ron Baron’s comments that regulations should be changed so that companies don’t need to repeatedly get permits to launch rockets, which would benefit SpaceX. He previously said he would work to streamline federal regulations for driverless vehicles, which Tesla (TSLA) is working on. Musk is also widely expected to play a role in guiding the Trump administration’s artificial intelligence initiatives, something that would help both X, Tesla, and xAI.