Musk gets White House email address, office space to lead DOGE

Elon Musk during the 60th presidential inauguration in the rotunda of the US Capitol in Washington, DC, on Jan. 20. Photo: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images/Bloomberg

Billionaire Elon Musk has already secured a White House email address and office space, clearing the way for him to launch the cost-cutting effort he's called the Department of Government Efficiency.

President Donald Trump set a formal structure to that effort Monday, signing an order renaming the US Digital Service — which currently exists as an in-house technology think tank within the presidency — as the US DOGE Service. That office will staff Musk's group, which will be a temporary organization authorized to recruit outside volunteer experts.

The DOGE will have an office in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, within the White House complex. Trump said Musk is getting an office "for about 20 people we're hiring to make sure these get implemented." The order also set up DOGE teams of at least four people at each federal agency to implement the program.

But Trump's executive order also suggested a narrower role for the office than Musk had envisioned. The order said the mission would make the government more efficient "by modernizing Federal technology and software to maximize governmental efficiency and productivity." There's no explicit mention of budget-cutting or deregulation, two areas that Trump highlighted when he first put Musk in charge of it after the election.

Musk's email is available as part of the Executive Office of the President, according to a person familiar with the matter who spoke on condition of anonymity. Musk's White House email address was first reported by The Hill.

Musk, the world's richest person, is one of Trump's most prominent supporters and has been chosen by the president to head the effort intended to reduce government spending. A brainchild of Musk, DOGE aims to deliver on what has long been a top Republican priority: Shrinking the size and scope of federal agencies.

Trump has said the group would work with the White House Office of Management and Budget to identify spending cuts and finish its recommendations by July 4, 2026.

Musk poured millions of dollars into Trump's presidential campaign and emerged as one of his closest advisers. He and his companies, including Tesla Inc. and SpaceX, have benefited from government contracts and spending — and are subject to regulation — raising questions about potential conflicts of interests and his ability to recommend which agencies should see funding cuts.

Musk said on his X platform in November that he would not be paid for leading DOGE.

Biotech entrepreneur and onetime Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy was also selected to lead the effort alongside Musk. Ramaswamy, however, will not join DOGE, the White House said on Monday, as he readies a campaign for governor of Ohio.

Ramaswamy in a post on X Monday said it was an "honor to help support the creation of DOGE."

"I'm confident that Elon & team will succeed in streamlining government. I'll have more to say very soon about my future plans in Ohio," he added.

The Trump administration has already been sued over the DOGE cost-cutting effort by a union representing hundreds of thousands of federal employees.