The newly created Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) is preparing to roll out once the Trump administration is sworn in with the stated goal of slashing government waste and providing increased transparency when it comes to government spending.

DOGE is not a Cabinet-level department but rather a blue-ribbon committee outside of the government that will be tasked with examining issues of government spending, waste, efficiency and operations. 

Proponents of DOGE, headed by Tesla and Space X CEO Elon Musk and tech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, have suggested that $2 trillion dollars in government waste can be cut from the federal budget through the reduction of spending, eliminating government programs and trimming the federal workforce. 

Although the commission does not have formal authority, it has pledged to work closely with the Office of Management and Budget to reform regulatory recissions, administrative reductions and cost savings.

GOP REP-ELECT OUTLINES HOW DOGE, TRUMP AGENDA WILL GET COUNTRY 'BACK ON TRACK': 'NO MORE BUSINESS AS USUAL'

In addition to a working relationship with certain government agencies, DOGE will likely suggest executive actions that may be taken by President Trump.

Several House Committees and caucuses have already expressed the intention and willingness to work with DOGE until it ceases operations on July 4, 2026, the 250th anniversary of 1776’s Independence Day, to accomplish the goal of slashing government waste.

"Our national debt has surpassed a staggering $36 trillion and should be a wakeup call for all Americans," House Delivering Outstanding Government Efficiency Caucus Co-Chair Rep. Aaron Bean (R-Fla.) has explained. "We must take action to avoid diving headfirst off the cliff of fiscal ruin. I’m thrilled with President-elect Trump’s appointment of Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy to lead DOGE, but taking on Crazy Town will be no easy task—they will need partners.

"Our DOGE Caucus, will work closely with the Department of Government Efficiency to help rein in reckless spending and stop the abuse of taxpayer dollars."

VIRGINIA DEMOCRATS 'ASKING THE WRONG QUESTION' AMID OUTRAGE OVER DOGE FEDERAL WORKFORCE CUTS, GOP LEADER SAYS

House Oversight Chair James Comer (R-Ky.) intends to establish a new subcommittee next, led by Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) that will oversee Delivering on Government Efficiency. The subcommittee will be tasked with coordinating with the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) through investigating wasteful spending, looking at how to reorganize federal agencies with an eye to improving efficiency and identifying solutions to eliminate bureaucratic "red tape."

"It is time to cut red tape, hold the unchecked federal workforce accountable, ensure programs are efficient, & work with @DOGE to tackle waste, fraud, & abuse," Comer posted on X in December.

On the Senate side, GOP Sen. Joni Ernst will chair the Senate Delivering Outstanding Government Efficiency Caucus.

"’Iowans elected me with a mandate to cut Washington’s pork!" Ernst said about the DOGE efforts. "From billion-dollar boondoggles to welfare for politicians and trillion-dollar slush funds, my decade-long investigations have exposed levels of abuse that are almost too insane to believe.

'EFFICIENT AND ACCOUNTABLE': GOP-LED DOGE BILL AIMS TO SLASH OUTFLOW OF FEDERAL DOLLARS

"The tables are finally turning, the knives are out, and waste is on the chopping block. As President Trump, Elon Musk, and Vivek Ramaswamy prepare to take action, the Senate DOGE Caucus is ready to carry out critical oversight in Congress and use our legislative force to fight against the entrenched bureaucracy, trim the fat, and get Washington back to work for Americans.’"

Several historical examples exist in American history, with mixed results and less ambitious goals, of government-led efforts to cut back on unnecessary spending and staffing.

President Theodore Roosevelt, in 1905, set up the Keep Commission, which attempted to "place the conduct of the Government on the most economical and effective basis in the light of the best modern business practice" and has been hailed as the "first of the orderly examinations into [Federal] administrative problems."

DOGE CAUCUS LEADER JONI ERNST EYES RELOCATION OUT OF DC FOR THIRD OF FEDERAL WORKERS

Five years later, President William Howard Taft was appropriated $100,000 by Congress to "inquire into the methods of transacting the public business of the government in the several executive departments and other government establishments, with the view of… changing old methods…so as to attain greater efficiency… and recommend to Congress what changes in law may be necessary."

President Bill Clinton’s administration launched the National Partnership for Reinventing Government (NPR), led by Vice President Al Gore, with the goal to make the federal government "work better, cost less, and get results Americans care about."

Gore said, "We are turning some of today’s agencies into smaller, sleeker organizations that won’t look like government at all. They will be like private companies, with a real CEO on contract to cut costs, and a free hand when it comes to the remaining government rules."

President Obama signed an executive order in June 2011 establishing the Campaign to Cut Government Waste that created an 11-member Oversight and Accountability Board with a stated mission to give "taxpayers the same ability to track where their dollars are going and to have the same confidence that the dollars are not being lost to waste, fraud, or abuse, not just for Recovery Act dollars, but more broadly."

Steve Davis, president of Boring Co., Musk’s tunneling operation, and Michael Kratsios, former US chief technology officer, are among those leading interviews of potential DOGE employee candidates, according to people familiar with the effort. 

DOGE is believed to have hired roughly 10 individuals so far and is seeking software engineers as well as people with experience in artificial intelligence. Other high-profile names believed to be associated with getting DOGE off the ground include Palantir co-founder and investor Joe Lonsdale, investor Marc Andreessen, hedge fund manager Bill Ackman and former Uber chief executive Travis Kalanick.

For now, DOGE is operating out of glass-walled office space in Washington leased by SpaceX, another Musk-owned company, about four blocks away from the White House.

Some other key areas that DOGE hopes to make progress in, Musk and Ramaswamy have previously outlined, include simplifying the U.S. tax code, auditing the Department of Defense, returning National Institutes of Health money to taxpayers and foreign aid transparency. 

"I expect DOGE to operate in ‘founder mode’ — lean, decisive and led by two great people in Vivek and Elon who are obsessed over every detail," said James Fishback, a Ramaswamy confidant, and the co-founder of investment firm Azoria Partners.

President-elect Trump said on Tuesday that negotiating away the Panama Canal was a "very big mistake" by former President Jimmy Carter – ahead of Carter's state funeral later this week.

Trump said at a press conference that he believes the canal, which he would like the the U.S. to reclaim, is why Carter lost the 1980 presidential election to Ronald Reagan, who also opposed the treaty Carter negotiated to hand over the canal.

"It's a bad part of the Carter legacy," Trump said.

"He was a good man. I knew him a little bit, and he was a very fine person. But that was a big mistake."

LIVE UPDATES: JIMMY CARTER REMEMBRANCES, FUNERAL SERVICES

"Giving the Panama Canal to Panama was a very big mistake. We lost 38,000 people. It cost us the equivalent of a trillion dollars, maybe more... They say it was the most expensive structure… ever built. And giving that away was a horrible thing. And I believe that's why Jimmy Carter lost the election, even more so than the hostages," he said.

Speaking in Palm Beach, Florida, Trump lamented the fact Carter purportedly "gave" the canal lands back to the Panamanians "for $1." According to reports, no part of the treaty mentioned a $1 sale.

"I thought [giving the canal back] was a terrible thing to do," Trump said.

When reporters pressed Trump on criticizing Carter on the day of his Washington wake, the president-elect said he was a "very fine person" but that his politics left something to be desired.

Trump has also sparred verbally with Panamanian President Jose Raul Mulino about his plans for the canal.

However, more than a century ago, another Republican – Theodore Roosevelt – celebrated the way the United States spearheaded the canal project in part through some diplomatic maneuvering.

HOW CARTER TRANSFORMED THE AIRLINE INDUSTRY

In the early 1900s, as the Colombian Senate balked at a treaty favoring U.S. control, Panama was in the process of declaring its independence from Bogota – and America quickly recognized the new nation and effectively circumvented the Colombians.

In 1903, President Roosevelt boasted of the accomplishment.

"Fortunately, the crisis came at a period when I could act unhampered [by Congress]. Accordingly, I took the Isthmus, started the canal and then left Congress not to debate the canal, but to debate me," he said. 

Trump’s plans to retake the canal have earned him praise from otherwise regular critics.

Meghan McCain, daughter of the late Sen. John McCain – with whom Trump often sparred – backed the man she otherwise tends to critique.

"Trump is right about the Panama Canal. This is very personal – my dad was born in the Panama Canal Zone."

The elder McCain was born in 1936 at the then-Coco Solo U.S. Navy installation – as a U.S. citizen since the canal zone was controlled by Americans.

The late Sen. Strom Thurmond of South Carolina also expressed reservations about canal negotiations in the 1970s.

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In a letter to then-President Ford, Thurmond warned the Panamanians were cozying up to the Communist Cuban government, and that "any action on the part of the United States that indicates the slightest position of weakness or a willingness to accommodate anti-American sentiment in Panama, would result in many other Latin American countries moving in the same leftward direction."

Thurmond led 35 senators in crafting a resolution opposing what he called the surrender of U.S. sovereignty in the PCZ.

"Any loss of control of the Canal would be extremely detrimental to our vital interests, especially in Latin America. We should make it clear that U.S. vital interests there are not negotiable."

Carter's negotiations led to Panama taking full control of the canal by 1999. His other major diplomatic negotation – peace accords between Egypt and Israel – also remain intact today.

The vehicles will be underpinned by a new in-house-developed operating system named after Honda’s iconic Asimo robot.

At CES in Las Vegas today, Honda showed off its promised new battery-electric Honda Zero prototypes. The first is an SUV based on its Space-Hub concept, called the Honda 0 SUV. The second is a sedan based on its Saloon concept, called the Honda 0 Saloon.

Honda says the two new EVs will go into production sometime in 2026. And as if that weren’t enough, the new vehicles will be the first to feature the automaker’s new in-house-developed Asimo operating system.

Zero looks

Concepts and prototypes are hard to judge because they are typically more design-focused than what consumers will eventually see at their local dealers.

That being said, the Honda 0 SUV looks a bit like an ’80s-era dustbuster got together with a Volvo EX30, while the Honda 0 Saloon looks somewhat akin to an anteater. But in person, both look much better than I expected.

The SUV, in particular, appears much closer to a final production version and offers a unique rear cargo opening that includes two fold-down tables on either side. The Honda 0 Saloon is much swoopier, while still appearing similar to the Saloon concept that Honda showed off in 2024. Still, Honda toned it down, replacing the gull wing-style doors on the concept with more normal ones. A set of retro-style headlights blink open and look similar to Lamborghini Countach designs of the ’80s.

There’s something noticeably nostalgic about the design. When the doors of the Saloon are open, the yoke-style steering wheel rotates so that the driver can slide into the low-slung seat without getting snagged. And when the doors are closed, the yoke rotates back down. That’s possible because the Zero platform is drive-by-wire. (In the SUV, the yoke remains stationary.)

Both interiors still look highly prototyped, with a dash-sized screen stretching from pillar to pillar. It’s reminiscent of the forthcoming Afeela EV from Honda’s joint venture with Sony. (The Afeela also got a proper rollout this week.)

The exterior designs also have an element of the luxury automaker Lagonda, a brand owned by Aston Martin that has dipped in and out of existence over the years. One of the more polarizing designs that Aston brought to the market, the Aston Martin Lagonda Shooting Brake, looks very similar to the designs that Honda showed off at the show.

The Honda 0 SUV will be the first to go into production for the North American market in 2026 that Honda said it will build at its factory in Ohio. And it will likely drive similarly to the Honda Zero prototype CR-V that I drove in Japan in October.

The new operating system

Honda says Honda Zero embodies three principles: “thin, light, and wise.” At CES, Honda executives said they were focused on showing off the “wise” principle.

That includes a new, in-house-developed operating system called Asimo OS, named after the company’s Asimo humanoid robot from the early 2000s that was designed for “people’s daily lives.”

Honda retired Asimo in 2018 to focus on “more practical” applications. But the company retained a lot of information from the more than 33.26 million steps the robot took over its lifetime about some of the stumbling blocks and safety issues a fully autonomous robot would have to overcome. When Honda unveiled Asimo in 2000, it was widely heralded as both a beloved friend (which once played soccer with President Barack Obama and could autonomously recognize a human wave as well as moving objects) and a symbol of Japanese technological advancement.

As an icon of robotics, Honda decided to name its new operating system after Asimo. The new OS will allow for things like “ultra-personal optimization” of the digital experience as well as automated driving. Honda also said it plans to integrate the management of its electronic control units (ECUs) for the vehicle for better control of functions like suspension, braking, and handling.

Honda’s Zero vehicles will be equipped with Level 3 automated driving, which allows the driver to take their hands, feet, and attention off the road ahead, depending on the conditions. Currently, Honda only offers this feature on its Honda Legend sedan equipped with the company’s Sensing Elite tech, which is only available to lease in Japan.

Honda says that it will leverage its relationship with Helm.AI (a company that Honda invested more than $30 million in in 2022) as well as its own AI development to learn from “smaller amounts of data” so that its automated driving system can rapidly expand the range of conditions in which it can be used.

Honda said it wants to offer Level 3 autonomy in heavy traffic situations and expand the offerings from there via over-the-air updates. All Zero vehicles will have the option for this technology at an “affordable” price.

Honda did not give further details about pricing but did say that the system will allow occupants to watch videos or remotely join a meeting in the car when the Level 3 system is engaged.

All Honda Zero vehicles will come with this new OS and be updatable over the air. The system will also “learn” from and adapt to each “user.” Because, in the era of software-defined vehicles, there are no longer drivers and passengers, but users to “enhance the joy of driving.”

A new partner for Honda’s system-on-a-chip

Honda also announced a new partnership with Japanese semiconductor manufacturer Renesas to create a system-on-a-chip to cut down on the number of ECUs and handle more processing demand.

Most vehicles today have multiple ECUs handling different systems. Each one has to communicate to the other in milliseconds, which requires a lot of compute power. The more ECUs in a vehicle, the more wiring, the more code, and the more lag, so Honda is partnering with Renesas to create a single ECU for future Zero vehicles.

Honda says that its ECU will handle everything from ADAS to powertrain and comfort features as well as AI — and that this will require a chip that can handle all of that processing demand at once.

Honda’s move to bring this development more in-house is part of a wider trend of automakers moving away from off-the-shelf, plug-and-play-style options for their software needs. Instead, they’re developing bespoke ECUs, chips, and other components to handle the increasing demands of the software-defined vehicle, especially in light of AI adoption and autonomous driving systems.

President-elect Donald Trump and Emirati billionaire Hussain Sajwani revealed a $20 billion foreign investment plan to build data centers across the U.S. during an announcement at Mar-a-Lago on Tuesday. The ambitious project, backed by Sajwani’s DAMAC Properties, marks a significant […]

The post Hussain Sajwani and Trump unveil $20 billion investment to build AI and hyperscaler data centers in the U.S. first appeared on Tech Startups.

• After years of writing about financially independent individuals, I've picked up on commonalities.
• One is that they have multiple revenue streams — at least one of which is from their own business.
• In 2025, I'm starting my own side business to see if the wealth-building strategy works for me.

My job involves interviewing people who are good with money — self-made millionaires, early retirees, and "super savers" who keep the majority of their income — and asking them to share their wealth-building strategies.

After nearly a decade of talking to these money-savvy individuals and absorbing their knowledge, I've implemented a lot of what they advise: I automate my savings and investments, live within my means, track my expenses and net worth, and take advantage of an HSA.

I have a lot of the personal finance basics down, but in the spirit of a new year and always trying to improve, I've decided to think bigger for 2025 and tackle one particular wealth-building strategy I've written about but never dared to try: starting a business.

One observation from talking to financially independent individuals is that they don't rely on a single source of income. They have at least two and, oftentimes, multiple revenue streams. Even the super savers tell me that there's a cap on how much you can save. But how much you can earn, they point out, is limitless.

Another commonality is that one of their revenue streams comes from their own business.

I've spoken to Amazon and Etsy sellers who have built e-commerce empires, content creators who drive passive income from courses and affiliate links, and a millennial who went from broke to seven figures by building websites and flipping domains.

Starting an e-commerce business

The business model that most intrigued me — and seemed doable on a budget — was e-commerce. Essentially, selling a product on platforms like Amazon.

I learned through interviews that there are three main ways to make money on Amazon.

There's arbitrage, which is the most basic, low-cost way to start selling on Amazon. This is when you source products from different marketplaces to sell. To be profitable, you must buy the product for less than it sells on Amazon. After reselling, you keep the difference.

The next tier is wholesaling. This is when you buy products in bulk and resell them on Amazon. Like arbitrage, you aren't making your own product — you're simply reselling an existing product — but you're spending more money upfront on inventory.

Finally, there's the private label route. E-comm experts have explained to me that starting a private label brand is the most time-consuming and costly but has the most upside. It requires actually creating a product and brand.

I went with the latter and technically started the company in 2024 when a friend and I designed a pickleball paddle and ordered inventory from a manufacturer in Asia. My goal in 2025 is to sell the 500 paddles that are on their way from China to my apartment in LA, build a brand I'm proud of, evaluate whether selling a product online is a suitable side hustle for me and my strengths, and write about every step of the process.

I don't expect building a side business to be easy. And everything I've done so far has cost more and taken more time than anticipated.

Most of the financially independent entrepreneurs I've spoken to started with a side hustle — and, in some cases, simply a side project or hobby that cost them money, let alone brought any in. They put their heads down from 9-to-5, worked for an employer to cover their bills, and then reserved 5-to-9 for building businesses.

Carving out time and energy to work on a side project that might not generate sales while simultaneously working a full-time job isn't for the faint of heart. These self-made entrepreneurs put in a lot of hours for an unknown outcome.

NeuroGum cofounder Kent Yoshimura, who worked at a music studio and as a muralist while building a caffeinated gum and mint company, admitted to pulling "an all-nighter once a week" in the early days of his startup.

Jatz Naran said he built his Amazon business between the hours of 6-and-10, after his day job would wrap up. "Forget work-life balance," he told me. At the end of the day, "you have to sacrifice one thing for another."

What's intriguing about starting a business is that you're in the driver's seat. The success or failure of the company is up to you. How much you and the company earn is up to you.

I'm reminded of something real-estate entrepreneur Dion McNeeley told me during an interview: Think beyond your day job.

His revenue streams at the time included his day job running a commercial truck driving school, long-term rental income from his portfolio of 16 properties, and a side hustle as an expert witness, which is someone who is called to testify during a trial because of their specific knowledge. He provided expert testimony for cases involving truck driving accidents.

"I make way more money spending two hours a month on real estate and one to two hours a month providing expert testimony than I make running a truck driving school," said McNeeley, who has since retired from his day job. "The mistake a lot of people make is selling their lives one hour at a time and not realizing that you make a lot more money when you get paid on the value you produce."

The messaging app handed over user data on thousands of Telegram users to U.S. authorities over 2024, the data reveals.

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Honda is adding to its so-called 0 Series of EVs with a new SUV it just revealed at CES 2025. The company showed off a mid-size SUV prototype dubbed, surely enough, the 0 SUV, which will join the 0 Saloon that Honda showed off at last year’s show. A production version of the SUV will […]

© 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.

At CES 2025 in Las Vegas, Panasonic unveiled its upcoming digital assistant, Umi, which offers families a personalized, AI-powered wellness coach. Created in partnership with Anthropic, Umi uses the Claude AI model to help families “care, coordinate, and connect” with each other, the company said. More specifically, this involves an AI assistant that focuses on […]

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Google is kicking off 2025 Pixel updates with the Android 15 January security patch today for the Pixel 6, 6 Pro, 6a, 7, 7 Pro, 7a, Tablet, Fold, 8, 8 Pro, 8a, 9, 9 Pro, 9 Pro XL, and 9 Pro Fold.

Android tablets have always been better when they’re smaller. That’s why the Nexus 7 was such a hit. But, if you look back over the past decade, Android tablets with any real power basically don’t exist under 10-inches or so. That’s why the new Lenovo Legion Tab, announced at CES 2025, is so exciting – it’s basically Android’s iPad Mini.