One week ago today as I write, President-elect Donald Trump named entrepreneurs Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy to co-lead a newly created Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), tasked with creating a more efficient government, most notably within the bloated federal bureaucracy.
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Trump indicated that the DOGE will operate outside the confines of government.
The incoming president said in a statement that Musk and Ramaswamy “will pave the way for my Administration to dismantle Government Bureaucracy, slash excess regulations, cut wasteful expenditures, and restructure Federal Agencies.”
In a joint op-ed published by The Wall Street Journal on Wednesday, Musk and Ramaswamy said that “following the Supreme Court’s guidance,” they will “reverse a decades-long executive power grab” (emphasis, mine):
Our nation was founded on the basic idea that the people we elect run the government. That isn’t how America functions today. Most legal edicts aren’t laws enacted by Congress but “rules and regulations” promulgated by unelected bureaucrats—tens of thousands of them each year.
Most government enforcement decisions and discretionary expenditures aren’t made by the democratically elected president or even his political appointees but by millions of unelected, un-appointed civil servants within government agencies who view themselves as immune from firing thanks to civil-service protections.
Hence “the swamp,” which Trump pledged to drain during his first term as president, with little success. But this time, something tells me he’s finally going to get the job done — at least far more than it’s ever been drained.
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The truly dynamic duo noted that the current system is not only “antidemocratic and antithetical to the Founders’ vision,” gut also that it “imposes massive direct and indirect costs on taxpayers,” adding: “Thankfully, we have a historic opportunity to solve the problem”:
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President Trump has asked the two of us to lead a newly formed Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, to cut the federal government down to size. The entrenched and ever-growing bureaucracy represents an existential threat to our republic, and politicians have abetted it for too long.
That’s why we’re doing things differently. We are entrepreneurs, not politicians. We will serve as outside volunteers, not federal officials or employees. Unlike government commissions or advisory committees, we won’t just write reports or cut ribbons. We’ll cut costs.
If you’re a fiscal conservative, or any freedom-loving American, you gotta love it. But, if you’re a career bureaucrat, particularly embedded somewhere in the so-called “deep state,” you’re likely already packing your bags and heading for the hills.
With respect to the Supreme Court, Musk and Ramawamy cited several relevant examples:
In West Virginia v. Environmental Protection Agency (2022), the justices held that agencies can’t impose regulations dealing with major economic or policy questions unless Congress specifically authorizes them to do so. In Loper Bright v. Raimondo(2024), the court overturned the Chevron doctrine and held that federal courts should no longer defer to federal agencies’ interpretations of the law or their own rulemaking authority. Together, these cases suggest that a plethora of current federal regulations exceed the authority Congress has granted under the law.
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These guys mean business.
Moreover, given that Musk and Ramaswamy will operate outside of the federal government, they will be in a uniquely powerful position to make recommendations to Trump that he will be able to pursue as warranted:
DOGE will work with legal experts embedded in government agencies, aided by advanced technology, to apply these rulings to federal regulations enacted by such agencies. DOGE will present this list of regulations to President Trump, who can, by executive action immediately pause the enforcement of those regulations and initiate the process for review and rescission. This would liberate individuals and businesses from illicit regulations never passed by Congress and stimulate the U.S. economy.
Almost sounds too good to be true, doesn’t it?
All I know is if I was one the likely-affected bureaucrats, I’d be packing my bags, too.