Indian-origin Ramaswamy withdraws from Trump’s ‘DOGE’

WASHINGTON: Indian-origin entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy will no longer co-head the Department of Government Efficiency with Tesla CEO Elon Musk, the former announced hours after US President Donald Trump’s inauguration on Monday (local time).

Ramaswamy is planning to announce a run for Ohio Governor next week, Politico reported. In a post on X, he said, “It was my 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. Most importantly, we’re all-in to help President Trump make America great again!”

Musk made it known recently that he wanted Ramaswamy out of DOGE, sources told Politico on the condition of anonymity. Ramaswamy “just burned through the bridges and he finally burned Elon”, said a Republican strategist close to Trump advisers. “Everyone wants him out of Mar-a-Lago, out of DC”.

The H1-B visa debate was the final nail in his coffin, Politico reported. In late December, Ramaswamy criticized American culture, saying that tech companies hire foreign workers in part because of a mindset in the country that has “venerated mediocrity over excellence”, Politico reported.

In a statement, Trump transition spokesperson Anna Kelly praised Ramaswamy, saying he “played a critical role in helping us create DOGE” and that his plan to run for governor “requires him to remain outside of DOGE based on the structure that we announced today”.

A source told Politico that Musk and Ramaswamy are now on good terms and that “the reality is that it wasn’t possible” to run for governor and co-lead DOGE “both at once”.

A major divide emerged within Donald Trump’s MAGA team, as Musk and Ramaswamy who advocated for the expansion of the visa programme for ‘highly skilled workers’ faced heavy backlash from within President-elect’s base, CNN reported.

In a series of posts on X (formerly Twitter), Musk emphasised the importance of attracting top engineering talent to maintain America’s technological edge. “The number of people who are super talented engineers AND super motivated in the USA is far too low”.

Ramaswamy, a first-generation American and Trump’s appointee to lead the Department of Government Efficiency, echoed Musk’s sentiments. He argued that cultural stagnation and a preference for mediocrity have led to a reliance on foreign-born talent.

At a rally on Sunday, Trump talked about DOGE and did not indicate that any changes were imminent. He said, “We have [Musk] and Vivek and some great people working on a thing called costs”. (ANI)