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REPORT: ‘DOGE’ Committee Gets Major Last-Minute Shakeup

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The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE)  — which has been tasked by President Trump with providing recommendations on cleaning up wasteful spending and redundant bureaucracy — is reportedly getting a major last-minute shakeup.

Trump tapped businessman and former Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy and X owner Elon Musk with heading up the effort. While DOGE will not function as a traditional congressional committee with the ability to legislate, it will be accompanied by a House select committee chaired by U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA).

Musk has vowed that all of the panel’s research and recommendations will be made publicly available before they are presented to President Trump. The tech billionaire may soon be heading up the effort on his own, however, as Ramaswamy may be departing DOGE committee efforts to pursue another run for office.

Ramaswamy is expected to announce a bid for Governor of Ohio in the near future, according to a report from the Washington Post. “Vivek’s base plan remains [the] same: to get accomplishments at DOGE and then announce a run for governor shortly,” said an Ohio operative familiar with Ramaswamy’s thinking who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

“The statement is drafted. It is ready,” a second source told the outlet.

Vivek Ramaswamy speaks at a campaign rally for Republican presidential nominee, former U.S. President Donald Trump at Mullett Arena on October 24, 2024 in Tempe, Arizona.

Ramaswamy was previously floated as a potential replacement for J.D. Vance in the U.S. Senate and met with current Governor Mike DeWine about the possibility. On Friday, however, DeWine announced that he is appointing his lieutenant governor to the post.

While it was immediately unclear whether Ramaswamy would stay on with the DOGE committee while campaigning for governor, a new report from CBS News indicates that he may very well be leaving during Trump’s first week in office. Citing multiple sources familiar with the matter, CBS reported that Musk’s team have become frustrated with Ramaswamy in recent weeks, as they believe Musk is doing all the “heavy lifting” on promoting the panel’s work.

The unnamed sources further reported on “friction” between Ramaswamy and incoming rank-and-file DOGE staff. “Vivek has worn out his welcome,” one anonymous source, who was described as “someone close to Trump,” told the outlet.

Ramaswamy has been spotted at Trump’s Mar-A-Lago estate in the weeks following the president’s election victory, though not as much as Musk, who has been a staple at the Palm Beach estate. The two were once seen hashing out potential plans for the DOGE committee during a casual meeting at a bar, though the two have not worked closely together in weeks, according to the report. President Trump also failed to mention Ramaswamy when discussing Musk’s DOGE efforts at the official MAGA victory rally at the Capitol One Center in downtown Washington D.C. on Sunday night.

Neither the Trump Administration nor Ramaswamy have commented on rumors of the latter’s  reportedly imminent departure.