WASHINGTON, Dec 4 (Reuters) - President-elect Donald

Trump on Wednesday named a former White House aide to serve as

counsel to an effort co-led by Elon Musk to slash government

regulations and the workforce.

Trump said in a social media post he had picked William

McGinley, who had served in his first presidential term as White

House cabinet secretary, to serve as counsel to a new Department

of Government Efficiency, an effort led by Musk and Vivek

Ramaswamy.

Trump had said last month that McGinley would serve as White

House counsel, but on Wednesday said he was naming lawyer David

Warrington to serve in that job.

Tesla CEO Musk and Ramaswamy, a former Republican

presidential candidate, will be on Capitol Hill Thursday to

discuss the effort, according to an invite sent to lawmakers

last week.

In a Wall Street Journal opinion piece published on Nov. 20,

Musk and Ramaswamy said they and "a lean team of

small-government crusaders" embedded at federal agencies will

review regulations to identify ones they deem invalid.

Musk and Ramaswamy said the effort will also recommend mass

layoffs across federal agencies and identify billions of dollars

in government spending that is invalid because it was not

authorized by Congress. They said they are aiming to complete

the panel's work by July 4, 2026, the 250th anniversary of the

country's founding.

Federal employee unions have called the planned actions

illegal and in violation of contractual rights and vowed to

fight them.

Trump in September announced the plan, including Musk's

role, and said he wanted to see recommendations for "drastic

reforms," starting with hunting down fraud and improper

payments, that would target "the entire federal government."