The United States of Meme-merica: Trump creates department D.O.G.E for Elon Musk, Vivek Ramaswamy

In a move that has left social media stunned, US President-elect Donald Trump has created the new Department of Government Efficiency and appointed Elon Musk and former Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy as its co-leaders. The department’s acronym, D.O.G.E, is a reference to the Shiba Inu dog meme that’s now inexplicably part of the US government language. You can’t make this stuff up.

This surreal chapter in American history, that almost seems plucked from a poorly-written SNL skit, has catapulted the highly memeable DOGE from the digital world to the federal arena, adding “government reform” to Musk’s already exhaustive to-do list, which includes managing Tesla, SpaceX, and X itself. But though he’s running the department, he doesn’t actually hold a government position, according to The Guardian.

Meanwhile, Ramaswamy, whose brief foray into presidential politics came to an abrupt end, will be at Musk’s side to carve government “efficiency” out of American bureaucracy, presumably with the same finesse as a tech company during a layoff spree.

Trump’s ‘Manhattan Project’…with Dogecoin?

This D.O.G.E “Manhattan Project” (as Trump insists on calling it in reference to the US’ World War II nuclear programme) promises to be a restructuring spectacle. Unlike the original, which yielded atomic breakthroughs, this project boasts Musk as the mad scientist-in-chief with Ramaswamy as his right-hand man.

Together, they’ll tackle the inefficiencies of the government from outside the actual government, where Senate approvals, job titles, and conflicts of interest can be blissfully ignored.

And as one can imagine, X users are having a field day.

When what could’ve been an email (read, Shiba Inu GIF) turns into a meeting (government department)

Who needs policy debates when we have X polls?

A real honour

Elon may be adding a ‘Government Efficiency’ badge to X as we speak

All dogs need not apply

A real edgelord

This would explain so much

Crypto bros are in raptures

The new American dream

But this isn’t just a dog-and-pony show (or a doge-and-pony show, if you will) — Trump has hinted at Musk and Ramaswamy’s government experiment concluding by July 4, 2026, to gift the nation a lean, mean bureaucracy machine on the 250th anniversary of American independence.

It seems Trump’s DOGE dreams are also doing wonders for the markets. Since election day, Dogecoin has doubled, X stock is up, and Musk’s assets are blossoming right alongside his ambitions to turn government work into a cross between a meme and a venture capital dream.

Financial analysts are bracing for chaos — er, change — and Musk enthusiasts couldn’t be more thrilled. After all, who needs traditional governance when you can have DOGE as a guiding light?