Axios

Vivek Ramaswamy will leave the Trump administration's new Department of Government Efficiency, known as DOGE, to run for Ohio governor multiple outlets reported on Monday.

Why it matters: Ramaswamy's departure leaves Tesla CEO Elon Musk, who has been increasingly asserting authority within the GOP, at the helm of the project.

President Trump said little about China in his inauguration address Monday amid growing signs that he's becoming friendlier with the country he's long assailed.

Why it matters: Trump ignited a trade war with China during his first term and pledged to do the same thing again this time.

Think of the U.S. government as a once-dominant, lean, high-flying company that grew too big, too bloated, too bureaucratic, too unimaginative.

• It's Kodak or Circuit City — a dominant player caught napping amid an obvious technological transformation.

The newly formed Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, will operate within the U.S. government, according to a fact sheet connected with an executive order expected Monday to establish the new entity, Semafor reported.

Why it matters: It was not known at this point how the new department, co-led by Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, would be structured to pursue its mission of cutting government spending.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry on Monday said that private companies can make their own decisions about whether to sell or merge, reversing its previous statement that it opposes any effort by ByteDance to sell TikTok U.S. to a foreign owner.

Why it matters: While a few interested buyers have emerged, China's unwillingness to let ByteDance sell TikTok's U.S. arm has tied the company's hands in the face of a U.S. law that required such a sale to avoid a ban.

The biggest news in the entire world Monday is the second inauguration of Donald Trump as U.S. president, and crypto traders are selling that news, as they are wont to do.

Why it matters: The Trumps shocked the markets and news junkies this weekend by launching two meme coins, TRUMP and MELANIA, which together had fully diluted market caps in the tens of billions almost immediately.

"Arbitrary" and "capricious" will forever characterize Gary Gensler's tenure at the helm of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, a couple of words used in two crucial rebukes by U.S. courts.

Why it matters: The former Goldman partner and veteran regulator established the crypto industry as enemy number one from the outset of his term in 2021. That fight has seen many tactical wins for the SEC, but is marked by a fundamental strategy that has not held up to legal scrutiny.

Hollywood was already drifting out of Hollywood, and the destructive wildfires that have ravaged Los Angeles dealt another blow to the city's attempt at winning back film and TV productions.

Why it matters: The city's biggest economic driver is still recovering from a challenging decade that has already included a pandemic and twin labor strikes.

President-elect Trump's opening flurry of executive orders will declare a "national energy emergency" to juice higher production and lower consumer costs, an incoming administration official tells Axios.

• The wave of moves on day 1 or shortly after is also expected to include an executive order to "unleash Alaska's natural resource potential." The order will support liquefied natural gas exports from the 49th state, with an eye toward helping Asia-Pacific allies.

What's the best way to operate a multibillion-dollar technology company in a country where one man holds substantially all political power? One answer can be found with ByteDance, which has been operating under exactly that kind of regime for its entire existence.

Why it matters: ByteDance's American subsidiary, TikTok US, has been transparent in its attempts to give Donald Trump — and not his predecessor — the biggest political win possible.

Inauguration Day and Martin Luther King Jr. Day collide Monday in a rare occurrence.

The big picture: Stock markets, banks, many schools and the U.S. Postal Service are closed for the federal holiday, but not because it's the day President-elect Trump is sworn in as the 47th president.

More homeowners facing risks from extreme weather like wildfires and hurricanes are being dropped by their insurance companies, new data shows.

Why it matters: Getting a mortgage without home insurance is almost impossible.

President-elect Trump said he'll visit Southern California areas affected by the historic wildfires on Friday.

The big picture: Trump at a pre-inauguration rally in D.C. on Sunday announcing his visit said he wanted to send his "love to everyone affected" by the Los Angeles-area fires that have killed at least 27 people.

China's Vice President Han Zheng and Elon Musk met on Sunday ahead of President-elect Trump's inauguration, per Chinese state media.

Why it matters: Chinese leader Xi Jinping deployed his top envoy to attend Trump's inauguration on Monday in an unprecedented move following Trump's threats to impose major tariffs on China.

President-elect Trump pledged during a pre-inauguration victory rally in Washington, D.C. to act when he begins his second term starting Monday "with historic speed and strength and fix every single crisis facing our country."

The big picture: Trump claimed at Sunday's rally in Capital One Arena on the eve of his inauguration that "before even taking office, you are already seeing results that nobody expected to see."