Washington, Jan 21: Entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, who once was tapped to lead the new government efficiency office within the White House, will no longer take on the role as he prepares a run for Governor of Ohio, a White House official said.
This leaves the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, now under the purview of Elon Musk, who was spotted arriving at the White House on Monday noon.
An official said Musk had received a White House pass and was expected to work out of the West Wing.
"Vivek Ramaswamy played a critical role in helping us create DOGE," Trump-Vance transition spokesperson Anna Kelly said in a statement to the media.
Kelly cited Ramaswamy's interest in running for Governor of Ohio as the reason he's departing the committee tasked with exploring ways to trim the size of the federal government.
"He intends to run for elected office soon, which requires him to remain outside of DOGE, based on the structure that we announced today," she said.
"We thank him immensely for his contributions over the last two months and expect him to play a vital role in making America great again."
After his departure, Ramaswamy called it an "honour" to have been a part of DOGE and teased an announcement about his political future.
"It was my honor to help support the creation of DOGE," he wrote on X.
"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. Most importantly, we're all-in to help President Trump make America great again!" he added.
Ramaswamy and SpaceX and Tesla CEO Elon Musk were selected by President Trump last November to head up the new initiative, which is expected to work in tandem with the White House and its Office of Management and Budget.
The 39-year-old former Republican presidential primary candidate was criticised by several in MAGA circles last month over a social media post in which he argued that American "culture" was celebrating "mediocrity".
"The reason top tech companies often hire foreign-born & first-generation engineers over 'native' Americans isn't because of an innate American IQ deficit (a lazy & wrong explanation). A key part of it comes down to the c-word: culture," Ramaswamy wrote in a lengthy post on X in support of foreign worker visas.
The Roivant Sciences founder went on to make the case that popular American culture has favoured "the prom queen over the math olympiad champ" and "the jock over the valedictorian" -- putting the US behind other countries in terms of developing engineering talent.
Ramaswamy went noticeably quiet on social media after the immigration post, leading some to speculate about his status in Trumpworld.
The Ohio native was rumoured as a possible pick to replace Vice President J.D. Vance in the US Senate before Buckeye State Governor Mike DeWine tapped Lieutenant Governor Jon Husted for the role.
When a Ramaswamy parody account on X fooled several users into thinking he was launching a gubernatorial campaign in Ohio, the real Ramaswamy responded: "Not a bad idea, though."
Ramaswamy attended the 78-year-old President's swearing-in ceremony at the US Capitol on Monday.
