Trump Has Announced the Creation of a New Department With a Meme-Worthy Name

The days since Donald Trump's election victory have been filled with announcements that might seem a little strange or outlandish if you weren't paying much attention to who Trump was surrounding himself with during the campaign. Among the most meme-worthy announcements to come out of the administration is the creation of the DOGE.

The DOGE is a new department set to operate inside the government, but maybe just as importantly, it's also an acronym that refers to a popular, dog-centric meme. Talk about killing two birds with one stone. Here's what we know about the DOGE, and who has been tapped to lead it.

The DOGE stands for the Department of Government Efficiency, and its main purpose is to prevent waste inside the government. Trump announced the new department in a statement on Nov. 12, and it seems to be a fulfillment of one of the promises that Trump made on the campaign trail to slash government regulations and eliminate wasteful spending. Basically, it's what conservatives always claim they want to do when they get power.

In Trump's announcement about the new agency, he also announced that Vivek Ramaswamy and Elon Musk would be co-leading it. Notably, this department is not a new official arm of the executive branch, which would require an act of Congress to create. Musk and Ramaswamy both came to prominence in conservative politics during the 2024 election cycle, and Musk in particular has been focused on government waste.

"Together, these two wonderful Americans will pave the way for my Administration to dismantle Government Bureaucracy, slash excess regulations, cut wasteful expenditures, and restructure Federal Agencies - Essential to the 'Save America' Movement," Trump's statement read. "I look forward to Elon and Vivek making changes to the Federal Bureaucracy with an eye on efficiency and, at the same time, making life better for all Americans."

On the campaign trail, Musk suggested that he believed $2 trillion of federal spending could be cut under Trump's administration. While Trump's announcement doesn't make any reference to that, it seems like he is moving forward with his commitment to eliminating what spending that they believe to be wasteful.

"This will send shockwaves through the system, and anyone involved in Government waste, which is a lot of people!" Musk tweeted following the announcement.

It's unclear how much federal spending might actually be cut, but what's clear is that Musk and Ramaswamy will remain in Trump's orbit as his new administration gets underway, and may even succeed in eliminating some federal spending.

Of course, the acronym speaks in part to the hugely online nature of Trump's new administration. This agency might have real power to shape the lives of millions of Americans, but it's also at least a little bit a joke. Elon Musk may be the richest person in the world, but he also really wants everyone to know that he's funny. Your mileage may vary on whether they agree.