Washington According to two people familiar with his plans, Vivek Ramaswamy is leaving President-elect Donald Trump’s new Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, and will begin his campaign for governor of Ohio early next week, NBC News reported.
It is not surprising that Ramaswamy wants to run for office in his native state. However, by leaving DOGE, he is no longer in charge of a federal expenditure watchdog organization that he was meant to co-lead with Elon Musk, the wealthy CEO of Tesla and owner of X.
He is departing from DOGE. According to one of the insiders, who was given anonymity to talk about the planning for an unofficially launched campaign, he will make an announcement for governor early next week. Over the past week, it became more and more obvious that operating DOGE and running for governor were incompatible. He is departing amicably with Elon, Trump, and the team.
Ramaswamy shared a picture of himself with Musk on X this morning with the caption, “A new dawn.”
When Trump is sworn in on Monday, DOGE will be one of his signature initiatives for his second administration. Before becoming one of Trump’s most well-known and outspoken supporters, Ramaswamy, a wealthy biotech entrepreneur, briefly ran against him for the Republican presidential nomination last year. He had stated that he was delaying his political aspirations in Ohio in order to assist in spearheading the DOGE endeavor.
Ramasway was withdrawing his consideration for the Ohio Senate seat that Vice President-elect JD Vance had left open at the time. However, Ramaswamyre emerged as a late candidate for that position, meeting with Ohio Governor Mike DeWine last week before he ultimately chose Lt. Gov. Jon Husted for the position.
Husted was regarded as a front-runner to replace fellow Republican DeWine, who was term-limited, but that move swiftly turned the tide of the state’s 2026 gubernatorial contest. Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost and state Treasurer Robert Sprague, two more GOP politicians with statewide name recognition, were also preparing their own gubernatorial campaigns. Additionally, their preparations were expedited by Ramaswamy’s indications last week that he would be joining them.
On Sunday night, Ramaswamy mixed with Ohio Republicans at their first ball. However, according to three participants who were given anonymity to discuss specifics of a private event, he left noticeably early. For someone preparing to run for governor, his appearance seemed remarkably formal to these Republicans.
According to a GOP leader in the state, he cannot afford to spend more than forty-five minutes with 1,400 of Ohio’s most powerful Republicans. It’s hubris on a whole other level.
When asked about his appearance, a Ramaswamy adviser did not answer.
Amy Acton, a doctor who was DeWine’s health director in the early days of COVID, has announced her intention to run for governor on the Democratic side.