President-elect Donald J. Trump is reportedly backing Vivek Ramaswamy to be the next U.S. senator from Ohio, potentially filling the seat vacated by J.D. Vance who resigned to serve as vice president.
According to the Washington Post, the incoming president has encouraged Ramaswamy, an Ohio native, to consider becoming a member of the Senate if the seat is offered to him by the Buckeye State’s Republican Gov. Mike DeWine who will appoint Vance’s replacement.
The paper cites the usual anonymous sources in “two people with knowledge of the matter” to report that Ramaswamy “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,” WaPo reported.
The biotech entrepreneur and Trump ally withdrew himself from consideration in November after he was tapped to head up the new Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) along with Elon Musk.
A source also told the New York Post that Ramaswamy “is interested in the seat and that Trump is supportive of his taking it.”
“I’m looking for someone who really knows Ohio, who understands this state, someone who has experience, someone frankly, who is a hard worker,” DeWine said last week.
Ramaswamy was born and raised near Cincinnati.
Under state law, the Ohio governor will appoint Vance’s replacement who will serve for two years until a special election will be held on Nov. 3, 2026, which will determine who serves out the remainder of the term which expires in 2029.
“I’ll have an announcement probably next week,” DeWine told reporters from Florida last Thursday where he had traveled to meet with Trump at Mar-a-Lago.
A former GOP presidential candidate whose debate stage clashes with Nikki Haley and Chris Christie made him a star, Ramaswamy dropped out of the race after the Iowa caucuses and threw his support behind Trump who promised a big role in his administration for the bold young newcomer.
When Trump won the election, he moved quickly to pick Ramaswamy for DOGE, a department that will target government waste and the gargantuan bureaucracy that has taken root in Washington, D.C. where it feeds off of taxpayer money while being arrogant, apathetic, and outright hostile to ordinary Americans.
Ramaswamy has kept a relatively low profile since his remarks that “American culture has venerated mediocrity over excellence for way too long” in support of the controversial H-1B visa program were seized on by some prominent MAGA influencers – who were cheered on by leftists – to attack Musk in an ugly holiday war over an issue that wasn’t even on the radar before the election.
It isn’t clear how his leadership of DOGE would be impacted if Ramaswamy were to be picked for the Senate.
“I think it’s a great idea, and he should do it,” WaPo quotes former GOP adviser Avik Roy, founder of the free market think tank the Foundation for Research on Equal Opportunity.
“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,” Roy said.
- NY Times’ token ‘conservative’ dumps his diaper over Vance’s lecture of Euros on free speech - February 19, 2025
- Musk, Trump consider sending check to Americans with found money. How much could ‘DOGE dividend’ be? - February 19, 2025
- Musk describes his real-life experience with TDS: ‘shot with a dart in the jugular that contained methamphetamine and rabies’ - February 18, 2025
Comment
We have no tolerance for comments containing violence, racism, profanity, vulgarity, doxing, or discourteous behavior. If a comment is spam, instead of replying to it please click the ∨ icon below and to the right of that comment. Thank you for partnering with us to maintain fruitful conversation.