Trump’s Musk and Ramaswamy Appointments Spark Conflict of Interest Fears – US Politics Live | american news

On November 13, 2024By Littum

Ramaswamy and Musk are to head the ‘government efficiency’ department, which triggered conflicts of interest

The announcement that Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy would lead a new non-governmental “Department of Government Efficiency” immediately raised questions about conflicts of interest.

Both men, CNN notes, “lead companies with existing, lucrative government contracts.” Musk runs companies including Tesla, SpaceX, X and Neuralink, while Ramaswamy is a wealthy biotech entrepreneur.

In his statement announcing the new roles, President-elect Donald Trump said of Musk and Ramaswamy:

Together, these two wonderful Americans will pave the way for my administration to dismantle government bureaucracy, cut excess regulations, cut wasteful spending, and restructure federal agencies.

Reacting to his appointment and giving his views on what he sees as government bureaucracy, Ramaswamy wrote to X to say “Shut it down”.

Ramaswamy also announced that he was dropping his bid to be named Ohio senator in place of JD Vance, who is set to become vice president.

Key events

In an analysis piece for CNN, Stephen Collinson has described Donald Trumps flurry of announcements like “a night of Maga shock and awe.”

He writes:

The selection of the likes of Elon Musk, Kristi Noem and Pete Hegseth is designed, in part, to honor the aspirations of Trump’s voters and epitomize the president-elect’s own outsider brand — as well as his deeply developed urge for loyalty.

His choice of ultra-loyalists is borne out of Trump’s frustration that establishment military officers, government officials and conventional Washington operatives reined in his own most extreme impulses during his first term.

But Trump is also taking a risk. While choosing outside revolutionaries to tear down governance makes sense, many of his picks lack the kind of in-depth experience and knowledge of the departments they will lead.

In its coverage of the controversial appointment of Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy to head a nongovernmental commission to cut public spending, the Washington Post reminds readers of something the latter said earlier this year.

It quotes Ramaswamy says “We have a fourth branch of government—the administrative state—that our founders did not envision. Removing the excess bureaucracy will be good for our economy and for our national spirit.”

The Washington Post goes on to say:

A person familiar with the effort, who spoke on condition of anonymity to describe sensitive negotiations, said details of the organization’s funding would emerge soon. (Republicans) had been talking about reducing waste for many years but had not been effective, the person added, leading the campaign to conclude that “outsiders with a much more entrepreneurial approach” were better suited to the task.

Some Trump advisers see Musk’s commission as an opportunity to implement long-sought goals to reduce federal spending and regulation. They have pointed to the Grace Commission, a Reagan-era panel that recommended billions of dollars in spending cuts. Under the model that some Trump advisers hope the Musk plan will emulate, the commission identified hundreds or thousands of examples of wasteful government programs and regulations and urged Congress to approve the recommendations backed by the president.

The Constitution gives Congress authority over taxation and spending, meaning any federal budget changes recommended by Musk’s commission must be approved by the House and Senate.

Philip Wen

As my colleague Philip Wen noted in his report on the appointment of Elon Musk and former Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy to the newly created “Department of Government Efficiency,” many details remain unclear:

It is not clear how the organization will work. It could fall under the Federal Advisory Committee Act, which dictates how outside groups that advise the government must operate and be accountable to the public.

Federal employees are generally required to disclose their assets and holdings to avoid potential conflicts of interest and divest significant holdings related to their work. Because Musk and Ramaswamy would not be formal federal workers, they would not face these requirements or ethical restrictions.

Trump said the agency will conduct a “full financial and performance audit of the entire federal government and make recommendations for drastic reforms.”

Trump said their work would be completed by July 4, 2026, adding that a smaller and more efficient government would be a “gift” to the country on the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence.

Read more here: Trump chooses Elon Musk to head the government’s efficiency department