Musk has said he wants to cut $2 trillion from the federal budget, which is more than the $1.7 trillion discretionary budget. He has offered few details about what he would like to make cuts, though he has attacked relatively small recipients of federal money such as the Department of Education and NPR.

Musk has said the cuts would mean “temporary hardship” for some Americans.

Ramaswamy has called for mass layoffs at federal agencies, a tactic that could circumvent legal protections that would otherwise insulate the federal civil service from targeted political cuts.

Ramaswamy campaigned for president in the Republican primaries on eliminating federal agencies, and he named initial targets including the FBI; the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; the Education Department; the Nuclear Regulatory Commission; and the Food and Nutrition Service within the Ministry of Agriculture.

Trump said the department would exist “outside of the government” and provide advice to those in the White House on overhauling federal agencies. The arrangement would also likely allow Musk and Ramaswamy to continue working and serving in the private sector without Senate approval.

Trump said he wanted the department to help bring about “drastic change,” and he compared his ambitions to the World War II project to develop nuclear weapons.

“It will potentially become the ‘Manhattan Project’ of our time,” Trump said. “Republican politicians have long dreamed about the goals of ‘DOGE’.”

He gave the department a deadline of July 4, 2026 to complete its work.

The announcement brings together two of Trump’s most high-profile surrogates from the tech industry, even though they come from vastly different backgrounds.

Musk, the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, is among the richest people in the world and is the owner of the social media platform to choose. .

Ramaswamy ran for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination against Trump and dropped out in January after finishing fourth in the Iowa caucuses. He is the founder of a biotech company, Roivant Sciences.

Trump did not immediately provide details on how the two men would work together or on who might pay for the department’s activities if it operates outside the federal government.