He was unexpectedly announced as the co-chair of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) in November by Donald Trump, along with fellow billionaire and entrepreneur Elon Musk. However, on Monday, hours after Trump's inauguration,  Vivek Ramaswamy  left the task force that was formed to cut down on US government spending and regulations.

CREDIT: REUTERS

The former Republican presidential hopeful departed from DOGE, leaving the agency solely to Musk, as he is reportedly preparing to run for Governor of Ohio.

A new dawn. 🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/a3Vthjth69

— Vivek Ramaswamy (@VivekGRamaswamy) January 20, 2025

"Vivek Ramaswamy played a critical role in helping us create DOGE," Trump-Vance transition spokesperson Anna Kelly said in a statement.

"He intends to run for elected office soon, which requires him to remain outside of DOGE, based on the structure that we announced today," she said.

CREDIT: AP

The 39-year-old, who was born into a Tamil-speaking family from Kerala, is a Harvard graduate and biotech entrepreneur. Despite his immigrant and religious background, Ramaswamy, who dropped out of the presidential race and endorsed Trump, won many supporters among MAGA fans.

Vivek Ramaswamy, who Trump chose to co-lead DOGE with @ElonMusk, is expected to soon step away from the task force. There has been friction between rank and file DOGE staff and @VivekGRamaswamy, and Ramaswamy has been subtly encouraged to exit. He intends to announce a campaign…

— Jennifer Jacobs (@JenniferJJacobs) January 19, 2025

However, this was short-lived, and in recent weeks a large section of the MAGA fanbase had turned against him.

According to reports, Ramaswamy's endorsement of H1-B visas and his support for the appointment of Indian-American venture capitalist Sriram Krishnan as Senior Policy Advisor for AI in Trump’s administration did not go down well with many MAGA supporters.

CREDIT: AP

Ramaswamy made matters worse with a social media post in which he claimed that American parents were raising their kids wrong. He also argued that America was celebrating mediocrity over excellence.

The reason top tech companies often hire foreign-born & first-generation engineers over “native” Americans isn’t because of an innate American IQ deficit (a lazy & wrong explanation). A key part of it comes down to the c-word: culture. Tough questions demand tough answers & if…

— Vivek Ramaswamy (@VivekGRamaswamy) December 26, 2024

Politico, which first reported that Ramaswamy was leaving DOGE, said that the billionaire businessman did not get along well with many, including Musk.

CREDIT: AP

Ramaswamy “just burned through the bridges, and he finally burned Elon,” a Republican strategist close to Trump advisers told Politico, adding that “Everyone wants him out of Mar-a-Lago, out of D.C.”

Another person added that MAGA wanted Ramaswamy out even before the H1-B visa post.

“They wanted him out before the tweet — but kicked him to the curb when that came out,” the person said.

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