Everyone thought they were the ultimate "dream team" for the libertarian-leaning right. When Donald Trump announced that Vivek Ramaswamy and Elon Musk would lead the newly minted Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, the internet basically melted.
It was the "Manhattan Project" of our time, according to the press releases. Two billionaire tech disruptors taking a chainsaw to the federal bureaucracy. One year later, looking back from January 2026, the reality is a lot messier than the headlines suggested.
Honestly, the partnership didn't even survive the first week of the new administration.
While the public was busy making memes about Shiba Inus and $2 trillion in cuts, a major power struggle was brewing behind the scenes. On January 21, 2025—just one day after the inauguration—Vivek Ramaswamy abruptly bowed out of his official role at DOGE.
The "official" reason given by spokesperson Anna Kelly was that Ramaswamy needed to stay outside the formal structure to run for elected office in Ohio. But the gossip in D.C. was much juicier. Reports from Politico and other outlets suggested that Musk had essentially iced him out.
The two billionaires, who seemed so aligned on the campaign trail, apparently hit a wall when it came to the actual mechanics of "efficiency." There were rumors of clashes over the tech industry’s use of foreign-born workers and, more fundamentally, who actually held the steering wheel.
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The Rise and Fall of the "DOGE" Duo
When the announcement first dropped in late 2024, it felt like a seismic shift in how Washington works. You had Elon Musk, the man who famously cut 80% of Twitter's staff and somehow kept the site running, and Vivek Ramaswamy, the biotech founder who campaigned on "shutting down" the FBI and the Department of Education.
They weren't just proposing minor tweaks. They were talking about a total demolition.
Musk’s vision was pure scorched earth. He famously stated at a Madison Square Garden rally that he could cut "at least" $2 trillion from the federal budget. To put that in perspective, that’s nearly a third of all annual government spending. Most economists called it impossible. Musk called it a Tuesday.
Ramaswamy brought the legal and rhetorical framework. He was the one arguing that the "administrative state" was unconstitutional and that the President had the unilateral authority to fire federal workers en masse.
What actually happened?
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- The Exit: Vivek left DOGE on January 21, 2025. He shifted his focus to a run for Governor of Ohio, aiming to replace the term-limited Mike DeWine.
- The Musk Takeover: Elon Musk became the sole face of the operation. He was classified as a "Special Government Employee," a designation that allowed him to advise the President for up to 130 days without having to sell his companies or disclose every single financial entanglement.
- The Early Wins: In the first few months, the "department" (which was actually an outside advisory group, not a real federal agency) claimed to have saved $1 billion by axing DEI contracts and canceling New York Times subscriptions for federal offices.
Why the Partnership Mattered (and Why it Failed)
The friction between Vivek Ramaswamy and Elon Musk is a classic case of "too many cooks in the kitchen." Or maybe "too many billionaires in the boardroom."
Ramaswamy is a student of the law and the "woke" cultural divide. He wanted to use DOGE as a scalpel to remove ideological rot. Musk, on the other hand, is a first-principles engineer. He looks at a government agency like he looks at a rocket engine: if it doesn't help you get to orbit, rip it out.
The problem is that the U.S. government isn't a private company. You can't just disable the "legal compliance" servers and see what happens.
By February 2025, DOGE was already facing massive lawsuits. Critics pointed out that Musk’s companies, like SpaceX, hold billions in government contracts. This created a massive conflict of interest. How can the guy who decides which contracts are "wasteful" also be the guy bidding on them?
The Supreme Court eventually had to weigh in on whether DOGE violated the Federal Advisory Committee Act. While the court gave the administration some leeway, the legal friction slowed the "shockwaves" to a ripple.
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Where They Stand in 2026
If you're looking for Vivek today, you'll find him on the campaign trail in Ohio. He’s currently a frontrunner for the GOP gubernatorial nomination, leaning heavily on the "outsider" brand he built alongside Musk. He still talks about the DOGE days with a positive spin, calling it his "honor to help support the creation" of the initiative.
Musk is still Musk. He remains a key advisor to Trump, though the "July 4, 2026" deadline for DOGE to finish its work is fast approaching.
Most of the big promises haven't materialized. The $2 trillion in cuts? Not even close. You can't reach that number without touching Social Security, Medicare, or the Defense budget—all of which are politically radioactive.
However, they did succeed in one thing: they fundamentally changed the conversation around federal employment. The "return to office" mandate for federal workers, which Ramaswamy and Musk championed together in late 2024, led to a massive wave of voluntary resignations. For them, that's a win.
Actionable Insights for the "DOGE" Era
Whether you love or hate the influence of Vivek Ramaswamy and Elon Musk, their collaboration set a blueprint for future "disruptors" in government. Here is what we can learn from the 2025-2026 DOGE experiment:
- Watch the "Return to Office" Policies: If you're a federal contractor or employee, understand that "efficiency" is often just a code word for making the job difficult enough that people quit. This is a deliberate strategy used to bypass the civil service laws that prevent mass firing.
- Monitor the Legal Precedents: The lawsuits surrounding DOGE's access to Treasury data and Social Security numbers are still winding through the courts. The outcome will determine if future presidents can use "outside advisors" to bypass agency bureaucracy.
- Follow the Money, Not the Memes: The "leaderboard of dumb spending" was entertaining, but the real impact was in the cancellation of specific federal contracts. Keep an eye on how procurement rules are changing for small businesses and tech startups.
The partnership might have been short-lived, but the "entrepreneurial approach" to government is likely here to stay. Just don't expect it to look as clean as a Tesla factory floor.