Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, appointed as the incoming “efficiency tsars” in President-elect Donald Trump’s administration, have outlined plans for sweeping regulatory reforms and significant workforce reductions within federal agencies.
Writing in The Wall Street Journal, the duo emphasized their commitment to dismantling unauthorized regulations, leveraging recent Supreme Court rulings that limited the power of federal agencies to enforce rules not explicitly approved by Congress.
Musk and Ramaswamy plan to collaborate with legal experts and deploy advanced technologies to identify regulations Trump could immediately suspend and reassess. The two argued that nullifying thousands of such regulations would rectify past executive overreach, ensuring regulatory authority rests with Congress rather than unelected officials.
Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy: The DOGE Plan to Reform Government
Following the Supreme Court’s guidance, we’ll reverse a decades long executive power grab.
By Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy
Wall Street Journal
November 20, 2024
Our nation was founded on the basic idea that…
— A Man Of Memes (@RickyDoggin) November 20, 2024
Tasked with heading the newly proposed Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), Musk and Ramaswamy aim to target over $500 billion in misallocated funds. Specific areas of focus include $535 million in public broadcasting subsidies, $1.5 billion in grants to international organizations, and nearly $300 million allocated to progressive groups like Planned Parenthood. Auditing government contracts and optimizing workforce levels in federal agencies are also central to their cost-cutting strategy.
In their op-ed, Musk and Ramaswamy dismissed claims that entitlement programs like Medicare and Medicaid must be targeted to address the federal deficit. Instead, they argued that rooting out waste, fraud, and abuse in government spending could yield substantial taxpayer savings.
Musk’s alliance with Trump has solidified over the past year, with the Tesla and SpaceX CEO investing millions in Trump’s reelection campaign. Musk has become a key advisor, participating in meetings with lawmakers and foreign dignitaries.
Together with Ramaswamy, a biotech entrepreneur and advocate for streamlined governance, Musk envisions an overhaul of federal agencies to enhance efficiency and reduce bureaucracy.
While critics warn of potential executive overreach in these ambitious plans, Musk and Ramaswamy assert their approach restores legislative authority to Congress and minimizes unnecessary federal intervention.
The incoming administration sees these efforts as a pathway to reducing the deficit and revitalizing American governance.
