No pay, but 80 hours of work: Musk and Ramaswamy are looking for volunteers for “Department of Government Efficiency”

Main restaurants

• The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) is hiring to help with federal budget cuts, led by Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy.
• Candidates are described as “very high-IQ small-government revolutionaries” and must be willing to spend a lot of time on “unclean cost-cutting”.
• The positions would be unpaid, but the opportunity to “greatly help America” ​​is being emphasized.

A new committee focused on federal cuts, led by Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, have started hiring staff. The group said, “Department of Government Efficiency” (DOGE) is looking for individuals described as “very high-IQ small-government revolutionaries.” These candidates must be willing to spend a lot of time, more than 80 hours a week, on “cutting hidden costs.”

Applicants are asked to submit their résumés directly via private message to the DOGE account on X. Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy will personally review the top 1 percent of applicants. Musk explained that these positions would be unpaid and emphasized the opportunity to “help America a lot” despite the lack of compensation.

Fundamentals and objectives

The commission was created by President-elect Donald Trump, who led Musk and Ramaswamy to propose cuts in government spending, streamlining of regulations and restructuring of federal agencies. Both businessmen have advocated for major changes to federal programs, including large-scale layoffs and major budget cuts.

Conflict of interest and finances

Although Musk’s company SpaceX has contracts with the federal government worth billions of dollars this year, it is not clear whether these costs qualify for possible cuts. Musk has also publicly called for the elimination of subsidies to non-profits, saying such groups are at odds with each other. Ramaswamy, a former biotech executive, defeated Trump in the Republican presidential primaries earlier this year.

Implementation and schedule

The DOGE Commission’s status as an official federal department depends on the Congressional legislation that established it. The work must be completed by July 4, 2026, the date already set by Trump. The DOGE account is on Although it is not clear who wrote the DOGE messages, Musk’s repetition of their statements indicates that they are true.

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