WASHINGTON — Ohio gubernatorial aspirant Vivek Ramaswamy revealed on The Post’s “Pod Force One” podcast that President Trump offered him a cabinet position after the 2024 election and dropped hints about how he would have approached the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) differently than Elon Musk.
The biotech entrepreneur explained to Miranda Devine that he ultimately preferred a temporary DOGE gig before launching his bid to lead the Buckeye State — but he was guarded about the exact reasons he left the administration before the 47th president was sworn in.
“There were a couple that were discussed,” Ramaswamy said, without specifying what cabinet post was floated.
A week after his election victory, Trump announced his selection of Ramaswamy and Musk to helm the DOGE cost-cutting initiative, with both men collaborating on a Wall Street Journal op-ed detailing their plan.By January, it became public that Ramaswamy had left DOGE to focus on his bid to be governor of Ohio, his home state.
“One of my core things that I ran on for US president [the] core platform was [to] take down the overgrown regulatory state,” the former 2024 GOP hopeful said.
“I do think that that is the wet blanket on our economy that’s choking the country from its maximum potential.”
“When I thought about what I wanted to do,” he went on, “I was already set on running for governor of Ohio, but for a period of time in the administration where it could be most helpful, that’s where my focus was, and I continue to believe that is one of the areas where we can unlock real potential.”
In the November op-ed, Musk and Ramaswamy teased plans to use DOGE to attack the regulatory state. After Ramaswamy’s departure, DOGE began focusing on cost-cutting efforts.
Musk made clear that he viewed the country’s roughly $2 trillion fiscal deficit as unsustainable and strove to trim that down as much as possible before departing the administration in late May.
Ramaswamy suggested to Devine that he and Musk parted ways over differences over what DOGE should emphasize.
“From my perspective, we got a few things we got to address in the country. So one is we have the overgrown regulatory state. That can be addressed through executive power,” the Harvard College and Yale Law School grad said.
“And then we have an overgrown national debt problem, and that needs to be addressed through legislation.”
He also stressed that he had a “good” and “interesting” experience working to help set up DOGE for the first few weeks after Trump’s electoral victory.
“[Musk is] smart, obviously,” Ramaswamy said when asked about what it was like to work with the world’s richest man.
Ramaswamy is the runaway frontrunner in the race to be the Buckeye State’s GOP nominee for governor, according to the RealClearPolitics polling average.
“It’s an ultimate prize to lead from the front,” Ramaswamy said when pushed about whether the Ohio governor’s mansion was a consolation prize.
“I’m somebody who’s best positioned to lead from the front.”
Leave a Reply