Trump has started appointing employees to Musk and Ramaswamy's DOGE

• As of early January, Trump appointed William McGinley as counsel and said Katie Miller would join.

• Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, DOGE co-heads, have also encouraged everyday Americans to apply.

President-elect Donald Trump has started to announce who will staff the Department of Government Efficiency, the cost-cutting commission helmed by Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy. In addition to significantly paring back the federal budget, DOGE says it aims to roll back regulations and reform government agencies.

Musk and Ramaswamy have dropped details on how DOGE will work, promising to staff the advisory board with "a lean team of small-government crusaders." DOGE's account on X has said it is hiring for a small number of full-time, salaried roles in engineering, HR, IT, and finance, though Musk previously said that employees will be unpaid.

Various Silicon Valley leaders, including investor Marc Andreessen and Uber cofounder Travis Kalanick, have reportedly been involved with planning for the commission.

Musk previously said he wants to cut $2 trillion from the federal budget. In 2024, federal spending totaled $6.75 trillion, nine-tenths of which went to federal programs.

Representatives for Musk and Ramaswamy did not respond to Business Insider's request for comment.

William McGinley had been on Trump's radar for other roles

In early December, Trump named McGinley the commission's counsel on Truth Social: "Bill will play a crucial role in liberating our Economy from burdensome Regulations, excess spending, and Government waste." In his role, Trump said that McGinley would advise the Office of Management and Budget on how to pare down federal bureaucracy.

McGinley is a Republican lawyer who has served as counsel for the Republican National Committee and the National Republican Senatorial Committee. On November 12, Trump tapped him to serve as White House counsel, but rolled that back without offering an explanation.

The same day he shared McGinley's DOGE role, Trump also said that David Warrington was his new pick for White House counsel.

Musk and Ramaswamy explained in a November Wall Street Journal op-ed how DOGE would use legal precedent. They said they will rely on two Supreme Court rulings to help Trump roll back regulations. Legal experts, however, have told BI that the DOGE leaders are misinterpreting the SCOTUS cases and that some of the commission's work could face legal challenges.

McGinley did not respond to BI's request for comment.

Katie Miller has worked for Trump before

Trump said in late December that Katie Miller, press secretary for former Vice President Mike Pence and deputy press secretary for the Department of Homeland Security during Trump's first term, will join DOGE. She is married to Stephen Miller, Trump's incoming deputy chief of policy and a longtime adviser.

"Katie is a deeply experienced communications professional respected by all," Trump wrote in a post announcing her appointment. He did not specify her precise role, writing only that she is "joining DOGE!"

Miller responded with her own post on X, writing, "Deeply honored to work for you at DOGE to make our government efficient and accountable." Musk welcomed her in a comment responding to the post.

A representative for Miller did not respond to BI's request for comment.

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