Rivian secured a vital loan from the outgoing Biden administration — and one of the leaders of DOGE isn’t happy about it.
The Tesla rival was granted a $6.6 billion loan from the Department of Energy to restart construction of a stalled electric vehicle factory in Georgia, which the government said would create 7,500 jobs by 2030.
Vivek Ramaswamy, who is set to lead the “Department of Government Efficiency” along with Elon Musk in the second Trump administration, criticized the loan in a post on X.
“One ‘justification’ is the 7,500 jobs it creates, but that implies a cost of $880k/job which is insane,” wrote Ramaswamy. “This smells more like a political shot across the bow at Elon Musk and Tesla.”
A Department of Energy spokesperson said the Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing Loan Program, which the Rivian deal is part of, reinforced America’s position as a global automotive powerhouse.
Musk and Ramaswamy have said they aim to cut about $2 trillion in government spending and slash the federal workforce through DOGE, which will not be an official government department.