Musk, Ramaswamy lay out plans for ‘massive’ federal layoffs, rule rollback under Trump

Tech entrepreneurs Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy said Wednesday that they are brand new government efficiency panel will identify “thousands” of regulations for President-elect Trump to eliminate, which they claim will warrant “mass cuts” across the government.

The pair, who were named co-chairs of the panel last week, laid out their plans for the “Department of Government Efficiency” (DOGE) in a Wall Street Journal op-ed.

“The two of us will advise the DOGE at every step to pursue three major types of reforms: regulatory redundancies, administrative reductions, and cost savings,” they wrote. “We will focus particularly on driving change through executive action based on existing legislation rather than by passing new laws.”

Musk and Ramaswamy pointed to several recent Supreme Court decisions that have taken aim at the administrative state’s power, arguing that a “bunch of current federal regulations” exceed the agency’s authority and could be on the chopping block.

Cutting rules should allow for “at least” proportionate cuts to the state workforce, they argue.

“A drastic reduction in federal regulations provides a sound industrial rationale for mass downsizing across the federal bureaucracy,” the pair wrote in the op-ed.

“Not only are fewer employees required to enforce fewer regulations, but the agency would produce fewer regulations when its scope of authority is properly limited,” they added.

Musk and Ramaswamy preemptively raised arguments about civil service protections that could potentially block Trump from firing federal workers.

“The purpose of these protections is to protect employees from political retaliation,” they wrote. “However, the statute allows for “effective reductions” that do not target specific employees. The statute also gives the president the power to “prescribe rules governing the competitive service.” That power is broad.”

“With this authority, Trump can implement any number of ‘competitive service rules’ that would limit administrative overgrowth, from large-scale layoffs to relocating federal agencies from the Washington area,” they added.

State workers are already mobilizing ahead of potential mass cuts, reportedly hiring lawyers and preparing public campaigns while hoping Congress will step in, according to Reuters.

DOGE also hopes to target “unauthorized” federal funding, which could affect everything from veterans’ health care and opioid addiction treatment to NASA, Washington Post reported.

The op-ed appears aimed at addressing widespread skepticism about the ability of Musk and Ramaswamy’s panel to effect change.

As a commission outside of government, it would be limited to an advisory capacity, meaning it could face many obstacles from within the executive branch, as well as Congress, experts previously told The Hill.

However, Musk’s close relationship with the president-elect could prove influential. The Tesla and SpaceX CEO played a key role in Trump’s campaign, contributing millions of dollars to his own pro-Trump super PAC and coming out in the campaign lawsuit.

Since Trump’s decisive victory over Vice President Harris earlier this month, Musk has been close at hand; the billionaire tech mogul joined the president-elect at Mar-a-Lago on election night to watch the results roll in and later got a shoutout in Trump’s victory speech.

Musk has spent much of his time in the resort town of Palm Beach, Florida, over the past two weeks, reportedly weighing in on Trump’s Cabinet picks and attending meetings, including those with world leaders.

He also hosted Trump in Texas to observe the launch of a SpaceX rocket on Tuesday afternoon.

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