Businessman Vivek Ramswamy, who was originally slated to lead a White House appointed task force on federal spending alongside Elon Musk, downplayed his association with the controversial initiative as he prepared to announce a gubernatorial bid in Ohio on Monday.
In a text message to supporters in advance of a formal launch of his campaign, Ramaswamy told supporters he was running to be a “key partner” of President Donald Trump, Signal Cleveland reported.
Ramaswamy, 39, is a native Ohioan who will enter the Republican primary as a national conservative star, in part because of his relationship with the president.
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But a day earlier on Sunday, NBC News reported that Ramaswamy “hesitated” when asked about whether his gubernatorial bid—informed by his pro-spending cuts and anti-red tape politics—would mirror the Trump-ordered, Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency’s efforts to slash government spending and purge the federal workforce.
“There are a lot of people sort of eager to sort of make that analogy and characterization,” he told the broadcaster. “But I think I characterize my vision for Ohio expansively.”
He did acknowledge that he could bring “some of the principles of efficiency and spending and deregulation” to his home state.
Ramaswamy had previously offered his glowing and unreserved support for DOGE when he was still in line to lead the organization alongside Musk. He called for the Trump administration to “delete” entire federal agencies.
The biotech entrepreneur told NBC that he “had a great relationship with” Trump and Musk, but ultimately left DOGE last month because he believed he was better positioned to “lead from the front” by entering Ohio politics.
Reports in Politico and the Washington Post suggest otherwise, with multiple sources telling the outlets that Ramaswamy was pushed out at Musk’s urging.
NBC News noted that Ohio has a large number of federal employees and, with DOGE currently slashing the government workforce with reckless abandon, that could pose a political hurdle for Ramaswamy.
A national CNN poll found that 52 percent of respondents think the Trump administration’s cuts to federal programs and agencies has gone “too far.”
While he has never held public office before, Ramaswamy is no rookie campaigner.
He launched a longshot bid for the Republican presidential nomination—and was careful not to criticize Trump in doing so—which led to his emergence as a prominent Republican surrogate on the conservative media circuit.
Despite being his opponent at the time, Trump reserved praise for Ramaswamy during the Republican primaries while attacking others in the race, including Florida Gov. Ron Desantis, who he dubbed “Meatball Ron,” and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, who he spread baseless birther conspiracies about.
In the Ohio GOP primary, Ramaswamy will face off against state Attorney General Dave Yost, the other major candidate in the race.
Incumbent GOP Governor Mike DeWine is term-limited and therefore ineligible to run for reelection in 2026.
