DOGE Leader Vivek Ramaswamy Takes Aim At Rivian’s $6.6 Billion Federal Loan

Tesla’s billionaire CEO Elon Musk and former Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy have been tapped by President-elect Donald Trump to head the so-called “Department of Government Efficiency,” or DOGE for short. If it rings a bell, that’s because DOGE is a backronym referencing the Doge meme and Dogecoin cryptocurrency, both famously associated with Musk.

While it won’t function as an executive department, DOGE will be an advisory body expected to have significant influence on federal spending and operations. That’ll supposedly happen sometime after Trump takes office in January. When it does, it seems that Ramaswamy plans to investigate a big government loan to Rivian for a factory in Georgia. That’s only one of several programs now coming under scrutiny.

Rivian’s Georgia Factory Loan Under the Microscope

Rivian announced plans to build the factory back in 2021. Since then, it’s faced several roadblocks including opposition from some neighbors. In May of this year, it delayed plans for the plant after initially saying it would begin construction in 2024. Then, in October it said it was seeking a loan to start the work. In November, the Biden administration approved a $6.6 billion dollar loan to the automaker.

Notably, the loan comes from the Department of Energy, which provides financing to all sorts of private businesses. One of its mandates is to promote technological innovation and no doubt, this is the type of loan that could do that. Certainly, it also spurs on the creation of jobs and cleaner energy. That doesn’t mean that the deal doesn’t warrant scrutiny though.

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“Biden is forking over $6.6B to EV-maker Rivian to build a Georgia plant they’ve already halted. One ‘justification’ is the 7,500 jobs it creates, but that implies a cost of $880k/job which is insane. This smells more like a political shot across the bow at @elonmusk & @Tesla,” Ramaswamy said in a post on X.

The politician went on to say, in a separate post, that “We are acutely aware of the reality that the outgoing Biden administration is pushing out $$ and proposing new regulations at a fast pace to get ahead of Jan 20. All midnight-hour expenditures & new regulations will get special scrutiny and should be rescinded where appropriate.”

Tesla’s Past Loan and Musk’s Potential Role

How much power and influence Musk will hold over any investigation of other EV brands is unknown at this time. It’s worth noting that Tesla also accepted a federal loan in 2010. The amount of that loan was $465 million and the brand paid it back almost ten years ahead of schedule. 

Typically, government loans for large production facilities like this can result in positive outcomes. As Fortune points out in its coverage, plants like this tend to bring other economic boosts to an area as tier I and II suppliers move in to fill the need of the automaker. If Rivian can post a profit in the fourth quarter, it could make this new loan look more lucrative to everyone involved.