Vivek Ramaswamy, who is set to join the US government as co-head of the Department of Skills, has posted on the social media platform ‘X’ for the first time in almost two weeks after his H-1B visa status sparked backlash. “Dawn of a new golden age. Monday begins,” Ramaswamy wrote in a post on Thursday (16 January). He was referring to the January 20 inauguration of Donald Trump in Washington. Newsweek reported.
Main point
Businessman and politician Ramaswamy and billionaire Elon Musk are set to join Trump’s newly formed government as co-heads of the Department of Efficiency.
Ramaswamy and Musk previously sparked outrage among some President-elect Trump supporters after showing support for the H-1B visa, which allows employers of US companies to temporarily hire foreign workers in specialized occupations.
H-1B Visa Considerations
Donald Trump’s government picks, Ramaswamy and Musk sparked online debate for days in late December 2024 when they both expressed support for the H-1B visa, which brings skilled foreign workers to the United States for large companies.
According to Newsweek, in a lengthy post on December 26, Ramaswamy wrote on social media platform X that, “(U.S.) top tech companies often hire foreign-born and first-generation engineers over ‘native’ Americans, not because of an inherent American IQ deficit. A key part of this comes from the c-word: hard questions demand hard answers, and if we’re really serious about solving the problem, we have to face the truth.”
He posted on X the next day on December 27, adding that “Yup, I’ve long said the current H-1B system is badly broken & needs to be gutted. It shouldn’t use a lottery; it should be based on pure merit. It shouldn’t tether workers to just one corporation. Same principles I favor today.” Ramaswamy has been largely silent on social media since December 30 following the message.
On the other hand, Musk, the world’s richest man himself, used the H-1B visa scheme, revealed in a post on December 28. He wrote in Χ, “The reason I’m in America along with so many critical people who built SpaceX, Tesla and hundreds of other companies that made America strong is because of H1B.”
President-elect Trump has previously criticized H-1B visas; he has sided with Ramaswamy and Musk on the issue, telling the New York Post in late December that he always liked them.
According to Newsweek, Trump also denied that he had changed his mind on visas, telling reporters at a press conference in December 2024 that “we need smart people to come into our country.”
Ramaswamy added a post on the social media platform X on December 26,
President-elect Trump told the New York Post on December 28 that he always liked visas; he was always in favor of visas. “So we have them.” He has many H-1B visas on his property. He believed in H-1B and used it many times.
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