Heaven Forbid!:
President-elect Donald Trump has encouraged billionaire biotech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy to consider filling Ohio’s vacant Senate seat should the post be offered to him, according to two people with knowledge of the matter, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe the private deliberations.
Ramaswamy publicly withdrew his name from consideration for the post in November, after Trump chose him to lead the “Department of Government Efficiency” panel along with billionaire executive Elon Musk. But the Ohio native has reemerged in recent days as one of the leading contenders for the Senate seat and is in advanced discussions with GOP leaders about the position, the people said.
JD Vance, who previously held the seat, officially resigned Friday to serve as Trump’s vice president. Under Ohio law, Gov. Mike DeWine (R) will appoint a replacement for the next two years, and then a special election on Nov. 3, 2026, will decide who serves until the term expires in 2029.
While the decision rests with DeWine, Trump has personally appealed to Ramaswamy to accept the appointment if offered, the people said. That last-minute message was conveyed within the past week. Ramaswamy has long planned to run for governor of Ohio in 2026, after completing his work with DOGE, which is supposed to wrap up operations by July 4, 2026.
It’s unclear how the appointment would affect Ramaswamy’s leadership of DOGE, which is not an official government body. But some of his allies have argued that it would advance the group’s legislative goals by giving him a perch in Congress. Musk and Ramaswamy hope to push for significant spending cuts, an effort that will require the cooperation of lawmakers to be successful.
DeWine traveled last week to Mar-a-Lago, where he met with Trump. Other candidates in the mix, according to Ohio news reports, include Jon Husted, DeWine’s lieutenant governor, and Jane Timken, who ran for Senate in 2022.
“I’ll have an announcement probably next week,” DeWine told reporters in Florida on Thursday.
Spokespeople for Ramaswamy, Trump and DeWine declined to comment.
The ramped-up discussions of Ramaswamy moving to the Senate come at a moment when the DOGE leaders have sometimes been at odds with other parts of Trump’s coalition.
Musk and Ramaswamy faced criticism from some Trump supporters in late December after defending a visa program for skilled immigrant workers that other MAGA allies opposed because it allows foreigners into the country. Trump ultimately sided with the businessmen on the visa program, which the tech industry relies on heavily, but the debate intensified questions about exactly how the DOGE pair would fit into the incoming Trump administration. Ramaswamy has not posted on X, the social media platform owned by Musk, since Jan. 3, a few days after the debate on the visa program exploded.
Still, some of his supporters argue that a shift to the Senate could give him more power to implement his agenda — not less.
“I think it’s a great idea, and he should do it,” said Avik Roy, a former adviser to leading GOP policymakers and founder of the Foundation for Research on Equal Opportunity, a think tank that supports free markets. “In terms of the DOGE component, you want someone quarterbacking the legislative and statutory components in the Senate, and for Vivek, I think he and the country will benefit greatly from him serving in elected office.”
Ramaswamy, a Cincinnati native, ran for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination but dropped out last January and endorsed Trump. He has been friends with Vance since the two were at Yale Law School together in the early 2010s. Musk is also in favor of Ramaswamy occupying the Senate seat, one of the people said.
President-elect Donald Trump has encouraged billionaire biotech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy to consider filling Ohio’s vacant Senate seat should the post be offered to him, according to two people with knowledge of the matter, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe the private deliberations.
Ramaswamy publicly withdrew his name from consideration for the post in November, after Trump chose him to lead the “Department of Government Efficiency” panel along with billionaire executive Elon Musk. But the Ohio native has reemerged in recent days as one of the leading contenders for the Senate seat and is in advanced discussions with GOP leaders about the position, the people said.
JD Vance, who previously held the seat, officially resigned Friday to serve as Trump’s vice president. Under Ohio law, Gov. Mike DeWine (R) will appoint a replacement for the next two years, and then a special election on Nov. 3, 2026, will decide who serves until the term expires in 2029.
While the decision rests with DeWine, Trump has personally appealed to Ramaswamy to accept the appointment if offered, the people said. That last-minute message was conveyed within the past week. Ramaswamy has long planned to run for governor of Ohio in 2026, after completing his work with DOGE, which is supposed to wrap up operations by July 4, 2026.
It’s unclear how the appointment would affect Ramaswamy’s leadership of DOGE, which is not an official government body. But some of his allies have argued that it would advance the group’s legislative goals by giving him a perch in Congress. Musk and Ramaswamy hope to push for significant spending cuts, an effort that will require the cooperation of lawmakers to be successful.
DeWine traveled last week to Mar-a-Lago, where he met with Trump. Other candidates in the mix, according to Ohio news reports, include Jon Husted, DeWine’s lieutenant governor, and Jane Timken, who ran for Senate in 2022.
“I’ll have an announcement probably next week,” DeWine told reporters in Florida on Thursday.
Spokespeople for Ramaswamy, Trump and DeWine declined to comment.
The ramped-up discussions of Ramaswamy moving to the Senate come at a moment when the DOGE leaders have sometimes been at odds with other parts of Trump’s coalition.
Musk and Ramaswamy faced criticism from some Trump supporters in late December after defending a visa program for skilled immigrant workers that other MAGA allies opposed because it allows foreigners into the country. Trump ultimately sided with the businessmen on the visa program, which the tech industry relies on heavily, but the debate intensified questions about exactly how the DOGE pair would fit into the incoming Trump administration. Ramaswamy has not posted on X, the social media platform owned by Musk, since Jan. 3, a few days after the debate on the visa program exploded.
Still, some of his supporters argue that a shift to the Senate could give him more power to implement his agenda — not less.
“I think it’s a great idea, and he should do it,” said Avik Roy, a former adviser to leading GOP policymakers and founder of the Foundation for Research on Equal Opportunity, a think tank that supports free markets. “In terms of the DOGE component, you want someone quarterbacking the legislative and statutory components in the Senate, and for Vivek, I think he and the country will benefit greatly from him serving in elected office.”
Ramaswamy, a Cincinnati native, ran for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination but dropped out last January and endorsed Trump. He has been friends with Vance since the two were at Yale Law School together in the early 2010s. Musk is also in favor of Ramaswamy occupying the Senate seat, one of the people said.
