Musk and Ramaswamy take to X to recruit "revolutionaries" for DOGE
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Elon Musk on Oct. 26 in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Photo: Samuel Corum/Getty Images
Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy appear to be soliciting applicants to work at the newly announced Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), according to a social media post Thursday.
The big picture: The initiative, which President-elect Trump said would be advising from "outside of government," is looking to hire "small-government revolutionaries willing to work 80+ hours per week on unglamorous cost-cutting."
- Musk and Ramaswamy will be reviewing the top applicants themselves, per the post.
- In an unusual move, the post asks applicants to send their resumes directly through the X platform.
What they're saying: When asked directly, a spokesperson for the Trump transition team did not comment about the solicitation but rather praised Musk's "genius."
- "As President Trump has said, Elon Musk is a genius, an innovator, and has literally made history by building creative, modern, and efficient systems," Karoline Leavitt, Trump-Vance Transition spokesperson, told Axios in an emailed statement.
- The department "will ultimately be staffed and dedicated to this mission, and President Trump is committed to having Mr. Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy lead this department to analyze the functionality of our government," Leavitt said.
Zoom in: The department claimed thousands of Americans "have expressed interest in helping us at DOGE" but said "we don't need more part-time idea generators."
- Rather, "We need super high-IQ small-government revolutionaries willing to work 80+ hours per week on unglamorous cost-cutting," the post states, adding that such people should directly message the X account with a CV.
- Musk and Ramaswamy will review the top 1% of applicants, per the post.
- "Indeed, this will be tedious work, make lots of enemies & compensation is zero," Musk said in an X post Thursday, adding "What a great deal!"
- Ramaswamy added, "That stands in contrast to the many government bureaucrats who: (a) do little or no work, (b) tell people only what they want to hear, & (c) make more money than the value they create."
Catch up quick: Trump announced the new initiative to cut government spending and streamline bureaucracy on Tuesday.
- It's unclear what role Musk and Ramaswamy will have at DOGE and whether they'll be able to make the kinds of sweeping changes they've proposed.
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