Key Insights
- In a Townhall meeting, Elon Musk distanced the DOGE department from the Dogecoin meme coin, saying the US has no plans to use the token.
- The Tesla founder revealed that the internet suggested the DOGE acronym, which wasn’t his initial pick for the new agency.
- DOGE has orchestrated layoffs and cut funding to select programs since its launch. The Scrapping of USAID remains its biggest hit since its inception.
Tesla and X owner Elon Musk distanced his Department of Government Efficiency Project from the Dogecoin memecoin, saying that the US government has no plans to use the token.
Musk revealed this at a March 30 town hall meeting in Green Bay, Wisconsin, hosted by his America PAC and aired live on X, garnering 3.8 million views.
“There are no plans for the government to use Dogecoin or anything as far as I know,” he said. “They happen to be similar names, but really, we’re just trying to make the government 15% more efficient,” he added.
Musk explained to the meeting attendees that the internet suggested the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) and that it wasn’t his initial pick for the new agency.
He initially wanted to name the new agency Government Efficiency Commision, but it wasn’t as catchy as the DOGE suggested by the internet.
That said, the billionaire concluded that the new agency has no ties whatsoever with Dogecoin memecoin.
Elon Musk’s History of Promoting Dogecoin
Elon Musk was a heavy promoter of Dogecoin in its early days, shilling the memecoin to his community via his X page.
Musk’s heavy involvement in promoting Dogecoin landed him a lawsuit in 2022, forcing him to change his strategy and become more covert.
The lawsuit, filed by a Dogecoin investor named Keith Johnson in federal court in Manhattan, sought $258 billion in damages. Johnson accused Musk and his companies, Tesla and SpaceX, of racketeering by touting Dogecoin and driving up its price through tweets and public statements, only to let it crash, costing investors billions.
The $258 billion figure included $86 billion for the estimated decline in Dogecoin’s market value since May 2021, tripled to account for additional damages.
This legal action kicked off a two-year battle that ended with the case being dismissed in August 2024, with investors withdrawing their appeal in November 2024.
Since the lawsuit, Musk has used cryptic messaging to promote the memecoin, avoiding any direct statements.
Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE)
The Trump administration created the DOGE department, initially co-headed by Elon Musk and Viviek Ramsahamwhy, to prune government agencies and make them more efficient.
The agency was built on that premise and the back of frequent calls by Elon Musk on government waste and stubborn bureaucracy in government agencies.
The Agency has orchestrated mass layoffs and cut funding for programs deemed irrelevant and out of touch with Donald Trump’s America First Mantra.
Read Also: Elon Musk’s DOGE Faces Legal Challenges as Democrats Push for Action
Agencies affected include the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), and the Social Security Administration (SSA).
The USAID episode had the loudest impact, giving its footprints in Various countries of the World.
In Africa, the scrapping of USAID affected George W. Bush’s President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR).
PEPFAR, launched by President Bush in 2003, is a landmark U.S. global health initiative aimed at combating HIV/AIDS, primarily in sub-Saharan Africa.
DOGE scrapping USAID means that subsidized medications and treatment for HIV Patients in Sub Saharan Africa can no longer continue creating a multi-faceted problem for HIV Patients in the continent.
The New Agency, headed by Elon Musk, has its challenges. The Agency faces multiple lawsuits from critics attempting to cut down its power and reach.
The two-month-old agency was established on January 20, 2025, by an executive order from President Donald Trump during his second administration.
