Some analysts believe that this aspect indicates that the internal fighting within the team during Trump's first term may be repeated, and it is also the "latest sign" showing how influential Musk is in the new Trump administration.

On January 20th, local time, Trump was officially sworn in as the 47th President of the United States and announced the establishment of DOGE in his inaugural speech. But within minutes, three lawsuits were filed in U.S. federal court by different organizations, alleging a lack of transparency in the establishment and supervision of DOGE.

Musk holds sole power.

On January 20th, local time, the Associated Press reported that Indian-American entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, who was originally nominated to co-lead DOGE with Musk, was confirmed to have withdrawn from DOGE and was preparing to "run for public office." This means that Musk will have sole power in DOGE in the future.

On January 20th, local time, Anna Kelly, spokesperson for the Trump-Vance administration transition period, announced that American entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy would withdraw from the DOGE. Because he will soon be running for office in Ohio.

Kelly said Ramaswamy played an important role in helping to create the DOGE and thanked him for his contribution over the past two months.

Later, Ramaswamy confirmed the news and expressed confidence that Musk and his team will successfully streamline government departments.

According to previous reports, Ramaswamy’s departure seems to be related to Musk. According to people familiar with the matter, Musk recently hopes that Ramaswamy will withdraw from DOGE. On the one hand, it is related to the fact that Ramaswamy has not participated in DOGE work for a long time, and on the other hand, his relationship with ordinary employees in the department is not harmonious.

Another reason that caused Musk's deep dissatisfaction was that Ramaswamy had publicly expressed his opposition to the issuance of H-1B work visas to foreigners on social platforms. This conflicted with Musk and angered some Republicans in Trump's core circle.

A Republican strategist close to Trump's power circle said that Ramaswamy destroyed all bridges of communication and made Musk very unhappy.

At the end of December last year, Ramaswamy criticized American culture and said that part of the reason why American technology companies hire foreign employees is that there is a mentality in the United States that advocates mediocrity rather than excellence. This also dissatisfied Musk, who called for liberalizing immigration visas for highly qualified foreign engineers.

Others pointed out that Musk believed that Ramaswamy’s plan to run for public office while working at DOGE was not feasible. Others added that Ramaswamy has hardly handled DOGE-related work since early December 2024.

People close to Ramaswamy claim that he has a good relationship with Musk, but the reality is that it is impossible for Ramaswamy to run for governor and serve as DOGE co-leader at the same time.

But on the other hand, some Republicans are not optimistic about Ramaswamy's prospects of running for Ohio governor. At a ball held to celebrate Trump's inauguration in Ohio, Ramaswamy appeared but left early, which many people felt was a bit perfunctory.

A Republican leader in the state pointed out that Ramaswamy was not even willing to talk to more than 1,400 influential local Republicans in Ohio for 45 minutes, which fully demonstrated his arrogance.

DOGE is in trouble

On January 20th, local time, Trump was officially sworn in as the 47th President of the United States and announced the establishment of DOGE in his inaugural speech.

According to the US "Business Insider" website, just a few minutes later, different organizations filed three lawsuits in the US federal court, accusing DOGE of a lack of transparency in its establishment and supervision.

Plaintiffs in the three lawsuits argue that DOGE should be considered a federal advisory committee because of its intended role. According to the Federal Advisory Committee Act of 1972 (FACA), such committees must represent balanced viewpoints and comply with various requirements, including making meetings public and keeping meeting minutes. However, the lawsuit states that most of DOGE's communications took place on the encrypted messaging app Signal.

One of the lawsuits was filed by the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE), which represents about 800,000 federal employees, in conjunction with the American progressive think tank Public Citizen and the non-profit organization National Democracy Defenders Fund (SDDF). They also charged that DOGE members are mainly technology industry executives and do not represent the interests of ordinary Americans, demanding representation in DOGE.

In November last year, Trump announced that Musk and Ramaswamy would lead the proposed "Department of Government Efficiency". Trump said the DOGE will "pave the way to dismantle government bureaucracy, cut redundant regulations and wasteful spending, and reorganize federal agencies."

In terms of spending cuts, Musk gave ambitious reduction targets, believing that the U.S. federal budget can be cut by as much as $2 trillion by reducing waste, abolishing redundant agencies, and laying off the federal workforce. The latest confirmed first batch of reduction targets exceeds $500 billion. Musk also made full use of online resources. On the one hand, he disclosed a number of eye-catching unreasonable expenditures, mobilize public opinion; on the other hand, he set up a "ridiculous expenditure ranking list" to encourage netizens to provide clues and "join the event."

The DOGE is also expected to promote reforms in administrative legislation and adjust or repeal regulations that hinder economic growth and innovation. Musk has encountered a series of warnings and investigations on technology regulatory issues, leading him to repeatedly criticize the Biden administration's technology regulatory measures as too stringent. During his first term, Trump issued an executive order requiring departments to cancel two existing regulations for every new regulation they promulgated. During the campaign, Trump also repeatedly expressed support for Musk's relaxation of regulations.

In terms of personnel composition, the DOGE has made it clear that it needs "volunteers" rather than "workers", and the conditions it offers are quite stringent. In Musk's words: "High IQ revolutionaries who support the concept of small government and are willing to work more than 80 hours a week for no pay."