Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy unveiled their joint plan to spearhead the newly created Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) under the Trump administration. In an op-ed in The Wall Street Journal on Wednesday, the two entrepreneurs, tapped for their unconventional leadership and outsider perspective, outlined a sweeping vision to reduce federal bureaucracy and restore constitutional principles to governance.
“Our nation was founded on the basic idea that the people we elect run the government. That isn’t how America functions today,” they wrote, emphasizing the perils of an entrenched administrative state. They argue that unelected bureaucrats, protected by civil-service laws, wield disproportionate power over regulations, enforcement, and discretionary spending. This, they rightfully maintain, contradicts the Founders’ vision and poses an “existential threat to our republic.”
Musk and Ramaswamy, volunteering in their roles to advise DOGE, are said to commit to cutting costs, dismantling overreach, and realigning government operations with constitutional boundaries. “We are entrepreneurs, not politicians,” they assert. “We won’t just write reports or cut ribbons. We’ll cut costs.”
Key Pillars of Reform
The plan centers around three main initiatives: regulatory rescissions, administrative reductions, and cost savings. These efforts, Musk and Ramaswamy explain, will be grounded in two landmark Supreme Court decisions: West Virginia v. EPA (2022) and U.S. v. Texas (2023). These cases, they argue, provide the legal framework to rein in federal agencies and restore presidential control over executive functions.
Regulatory Rescissions
DOGE will evaluate regulations for statutory overreach, economic burden, and practicality, with the intention of rescinding those that fail these tests. “This includes a deep review of regulations issued during the COVID-19 pandemic and a focus on the impact of rules on small businesses and innovation,” the pair wrote.
The Covid pandemic saw a surge in federal and state regulations ostensibly aimed at curbing the crisis, but these rules disproportionately burdened small businesses and stifled innovation. Workplace safety mandates, complex licensing and permitting processes, and convoluted economic relief programs placed small enterprises at a disadvantage, while large corporations often had the resources to comply or navigate the red tape. Agencies like the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and the Small Business Administration (SBA), alongside state governments, played pivotal roles in enforcing these measures.
Notably, many of these regulations were linked to the influence of Larry Fink, CEO of BlackRock, the world’s largest multinational investment management corporation. During the pandemic, the Federal Reserve enlisted BlackRock to manage emergency lending programs under the Trump administration. These included the Primary and Secondary Market Corporate Credit Facilities, which stabilized corporate bond markets but disproportionately benefited large corporations. By overseeing these programs, Fink indirectly influenced financial policy, prioritizing corporate liquidity over broader economic relief. Critics argue this approach sidelined small businesses and consolidated regulatory advantages for major firms.
Administrative Reductions
The DOGE team plans to assess the structure and operations of federal agencies, consolidating redundant departments, eliminating unnecessary positions, and streamlining processes.
“The size and scope of federal agencies will be reassessed” to reduce costs and improve efficiency, wrote Musk and Ramaswamy.
In a recent tweet, Ramaswamy expressed his belief that the “reasonable formula to fix the U.S. government” would be “Milei-style cuts, on steroids.”
Argentine President Javier Milei has implemented extensive government cuts since taking office in December 2023. His administration has reduced the number of government ministries from 24 to 8, eliminating or merging several key departments. This restructuring led to the dismissal of approximately 30,000 public employees, with plans to cut up to 70,000 positions to streamline government operations and reduce expenditures.
Use of AI
Milei’s proposed changes were celebrated as a blow to the burdensome bureaucracy. However, Milei pushes to replace some of the government functions with artificial intelligence (AI). Most disturbingly, that plan is fully aligned with the globalist agenda.
For instance, Milei’s approach includes replacing the Department of Education and its administrative functions with AI systems. Similar strategies are being applied in policing, where AI-driven tools analyze crime data and monitor social media for “security threats.” Administrative tasks across government agencies, such as processing applications and managing records, are also targeted for automation.
As reported by the International Artificial Intelligence Industry Alliance, the country’s National Plan of Artificial Intelligence that covers both the public and private sectors falls under the Innovative Argentina 2030 Plan (as a part of the UN’s 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development), as well as the UN’s 2030 Digital Agenda.
The New American has warned time and again that the United Nations’ 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development serves as a framework for global governance that will eradicate national sovereignty and individual freedoms.
As of now, there is no public record of Musk or Ramaswamy explicitly stating plans to apply AI within DOGE. Yet the probability is highly likely. Musk, for instance, acknowledges the immense potential of AI. He has invested heavily in AI, committing significant funds across ventures like OpenAI, xAI, Tesla AI, and Neuralink.
Cost Savings
Every dollar spent by the federal government will be subject to scrutiny, say Musk and Ramaswamy. Programs deemed outdated or ineffective will face elimination. “We’ll focus on programs that have outlived their usefulness or fail to deliver measurable benefits to the public,” they said, adding that private-sector methodologies will inform their approach.
There are countless examples of government waste and mismanagement of funds listed on DOGE’s X account, such as the following:
The DOGE plan’s promise to bring accountability and efficiency to Washington reflects Musk and Ramaswamy’s entrepreneurial ethos. “For decades, the administrative state has expanded unchecked, threatening the principles of democratic governance and fiscal responsibility,” they assert, adding that their mission would be “to reverse this trend, restore the balance of power envisioned by the Constitution, and put the American people back in charge of their government.”
DOGE
President-elect Donald Trump framed the new potential department as “the Manhattan Project of Our Time.”
As an outside advisory entity, DOGE would work closely with the White House and the Office of Management and Budget.
Cutting the State, Not the People
In spirit, Musk and Ramaswamy’s vision for DOGE resonates with a constitutionalist ethos. Much of the federal government’s current structure — perhaps as much as 80 percent — operates beyond the bounds of what the Constitution originally envisioned. Their strategy to streamline bureaucracy aligns with the Founders’ intent of limited federal power. However, the path forward must tread carefully to avoid a corporatist model that undermines democratic accountability.
The DOGE plan aims to dismantle entrenched bureaucracies. However, Musk and Ramaswamy’s op-ed notably omits any mention of decentralizing power or involving state governments in their proposed reforms.
Furthermore, the emphasis on leveraging private-sector methodologies and potential reliance on AI raises significant concerns. While the efficiency gains from technology and private partnerships are clear, excessive corporatization risks prioritizing profit motives over public interest. This was evidenced by pandemic-era financial policies that disproportionately favored large corporations under BlackRock’s management.
