‘Everyone wants him out': How Musk helped boot Ramaswamy from DOGE

Musk, the tech tycoon and Donald Trump confidant, made it known that he wanted Ramaswamy out of DOGE in recent days, according to three people familiar with Musk’s preferences who, like others for this article, were granted anonymity to discuss them.

Musk’s ability to ice out Ramaswamy, who for a variety of reasons had irked some Republicans in Trump’s circle, is the latest sign of his influence in the incoming administration. And it presages an encore of all of the infighting that marked Trump’s first term.

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 D.C.”

Even Hill Republicans have joined the Ramaswamy bashing. A cheeky meme portraying Musk erasing Ramaswamy from history was privately shared by junior staff in House Speaker Mike Johnson’s office, a person familiar with the meme said. It depicted Musk as Josef Stalin and Ramaswamy as the chief of the Soviet secret police who was later executed and removed from photos.

https://www.politico.com/news/2025/01/20/doge-musk-helped-eject-ramaswamy-00199487