US President-elect Donald Trump has announced a new commission, dubbed the Department of Government Efficiency, which he likened to the Manhattan Project. Led by Elon Musk and former GOP presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, the commission aims to “delete” multiple federal agencies and slash $2 trillion from the federal budget.
To fill the positions on the commission, Trump’s team took to social media platform X (formerly Twitter) and posted a call for applicants who would accept bad hours and no pay. Scores of followers responded, with some claiming impressive qualifications despite lacking formal experience. Notable applicants include Valentina Gomez, a 25-year-old immigrant from Columbia, who lost the Republican primary for Missouri’s secretary of state; Alex Younger, a web developer from Texas, who has worked since dropping out of community college; and Robert J. Salvador, a businessman with an AI company backed by Y Combinator.
Applicants expressed varying degrees of enthusiasm for joining the commission, with some stating that they would be willing to work without pay due to their eagerness to reform government bureaucracy. Others emphasized the potential benefits of networking with powerful figures in the Trump administration. As the commission moves forward, it remains unclear how its proposals will be implemented or whether they will be met with resistance from lawmakers.
Source: https://nymag.com/intelligencer/article/elon-musk-doge-vivek-ramaswamy-applicants-trump.html