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Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy is done in President Trump’s Initiative of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), a spokesman confirmed on Monday.
The confirmation came a couple of hours after a source close to the billionaire biotech entrepreneur told Fox News Digital that Ramaswamy was no longer with DOGE.
And Ramaswamy, who along with Elon Musk, the world’s richest person, was tapped by Trump in November to lead DOGE, is expected to launch a Republican campaign for Ohio governor early next week, according to the source
“Vivek Ramaswamy played a critical role in helping us create DOGE,” Trump-Vance transition spokeswoman Anna Kelly said in a statement to Fox News. “He intends to run for elected office soon, which requires him to remain outside the DOGE, in accordance with the structure we announced today. We are immensely grateful for his contributions over the past 2 months and look forward to play a vital role in making America great again.”
MUSK AND RAMASWAMY IGNITE WIZARD WAR OVER SPECIFIED WORKER IMMIGRATION
Vivek Ramaswamy and Kristi Noem applaud during the presidential inauguration of U.S. President Donald Trump in the rotunda of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, U.S., on January 20, 2025. (Kevin Lamarque/REUTERS, Pool)
Soon after, Ramaswamy took to social media to make a statement.
“It was an honor to help support the creation of DOGE. I am confident that Elon and the team will succeed in streamlining government. I will have more to say soon about my future plans in Ohio. Most importantly, we are all in. to help President Trump make America great again,” he wrote.
GOP governor. Mike DeWine of Ohio is term-limited and cannot seek re-election in 2026.
DeWine announced Friday that Lt. Gov. Jon Husted would fill the U.S. Senate seat he held former Senator JD Vance until earlier this month, when the vice president stepped down before Monday’s inauguration.
Before the Senate announcement, Husted had planned to run for governor in 2026 to succeed DeWine. Ramaswamy, meanwhile, had expressed interest in serving in the Senate.
DeWine’s decision to pick Husted to fill the vacant Senate seat appeared to accelerate Ramaswamy’s move to launch a gubernatorial bid.
Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine announces his nomination of Lt. Gov. Jon Husted, right, to the U.S. Senate seat previously held by Vice President JD Vance at a press conference on Friday, Jan. 17 of 2025 in Columbus, Ohio. (AP Photo/Julie Carr Smyth)
Ramaswamy, 39, who launched his presidential campaign in February 2023, saw his stock rise as he went from a long shot to a contender for the Republican nomination.
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Ramaswamy campaigned on what he called an “America First 2.0” agenda and was one of Trump’s biggest supporters in the challenger camp, calling Trump the “most successful president of our century.”
Vivek Ramaswamy supports former President Trump during a campaign event in Atkinson, New Hampshire on January 16, 2024. (Timothy A. Clary/AFP via Getty Images)
He dropped his White House bid a year ago after a distant fourth in the Iowa caucuses and quickly endorsed Trump, becoming a primary campaign surrogate.
Ramaswamy’s departure appears to pave the way for Musk, Trump’s top donor and key ally, to lead DOGE without having to share the limelight.
Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy are leading the effort to reduce government inefficiency. (Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)
The move also comes a couple of weeks after Ramswamy and Musk sparked a firestorm among hard-core Trump supporters at MAGA over their support for H-1B temporary worker visas for highly skilled workers from foreign countries.
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Ramaswamy’s comments criticizing an American culture that he said “revere mediocrity over excellence” received a lot of pushback from some leading voices on the right, as well as some in the political circle Trump’s
Once a general election battleground, Ohio has turned red over the past decade as Republicans have dominated statewide elections.
