Elon Musk, the Censor of the Future, and the Role of the Silicon Valley in Governing the Second Donald Trump Administration

Musk would head the government efficiency commission that Trump said he would create. Musk wants to cut $2 trillion in federal spending. In 2023, the government spent $1.7 billion in discretionary funds. On X, Musk has already alluded to departments and areas he’d aim to cut, including the Department of Education and funding for National Public Radio.

Less than a week after the election results were called for former president Donald Trump, his centibillionaire backer Elon Musk is already doing what he promised: taking an active role in shaping the government under a second Trump administration.

Musk became one of Trump’s biggest supporters and an advocate in Silicon Valley during the campaign. His political action committee (PAC), of which he was the primary funder, spent $200 million to help the Trump campaign. He was involved in the campaign, but he also hosted a live show on X, stumped for Trump at a rally, and made an appearance with him.

In his Tuesday statement, the president-elect said that Musk and Ramaswamy would conclude their work in the new department “no later than July 4, 2026.”

DOGE Will Provide Advice and Guidance to the White House of Management & Budget, Not the President’s Anomalous Presidential Campaign

The statement did not offer specifics on the nature of DOGE, but did say that it would “provide advice and guidance from outside of Government” and that it would “partner with the White House of the Office of Management & Budget.”

“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,” stated the announcement from Trump.