Trump says Elon Musk to head new ‘efficiency’ department: Live

But it came as president-elect Trump indicated that he would be taking the US in the opposite direction with the controversial appointment of Lee Zeldin to lead the US Environment Protection Agency.

President-elect Donald Trump is starting to fill key posts in his second administration, putting an emphasis so far on aides and allies who were his strongest backers during the 2024 campaign.

Here’s a look at who he’s selected so far.

Centrist Democrats in particular are taking it from all sides, humiliated with a seven-swing-state sweep after successfully talking Harris into abandoning the progressive-ish agenda she championed in her 2020 bid for the White House. Those centrists spent the past few months stating plainly that she would not be a meaningful departure from the presidency of Joe Biden, with whom Harris could not identify a single issue on which she disagreed.

The men leading the Office of Government Efficiency — or DOGE, named after Musk’s favorite meme — “will pave the way for my Administration to dismantle Government Bureaucracy, slash excess regulations, cut wasteful expenditures, and restructure Federal Agencies — Essential to the ‘Save America; Movement,” Trump said in a statement on Tuesday.

“This will send shockwaves through the system, and anyone involved in Government waste, which is a lot of people!” Musk added.

Merchan oversaw Trump’s high-profile hush money case where he was ultimately convicted of 34 felonies in New York earlier this year. His daughter subsequently became the target of attacks by the president-elect due to her Democrat-leaning political activities.

Donald Trump has chosen billionaire Elon Musk and former Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy to lead the new Department of Government Efficiency.

“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 – Essential to the ‘Save America’ Movement,” Trump said in a statement on Tuesday night.

Musk added that “this will send shockwaves through the system, and anyone involved in Government waste, which is a lot of people.”

Musk first promoted the idea at Trump’s Madison Square Garden rally on October 27.

“How much do you think we can rip out of this wasted, $6.5 trillion Harris-Biden budget?” Howard Lutnick, the billionaire chief executive of financial services firm Cantor Fitzgerald, who is advising Trump’s campaign, asked at the event.

“I think we can do at least $2 trillion,” Musk said.

“Your money is being wasted, and the Department of Government Efficiency is going to fix that,” he added. “We’re going to get the government off your back and out of your pocketbook.”

Merchan was scheduled to issue a ruling on Trump’s “immunity” argument on Tuesday.

Instead, he told Trump’s lawyers he will delay a decision until November 19.

Merchan initially moved his decision on the “immunity” question until after Election Day “to avoid any appearance” of political interference.

Trump was scheduled to be sentenced on November 26. That will also be put on hold for now.