The heads of the newly formed Department of Government Efficiency were set to meet with House and Senate Republicans on Thursday and discuss ways they intend to trim the federal bureaucracy, The Wall Street Journal reported.
President-elect Donald Trump announced in November that Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy will lead the incoming administration's goal of weeding out government inefficiency and wasteful spending. On Thursday, Trump named former White House Cabinet Secretary Bill McGinley to serve as counsel to DOGE aiming to "to provide advice and guidance to end the bloated federal bureaucracy."
Describing their DOGE initiative in a Wall Street Journal opinion article last month, Musk and Ramaswamy wrote: "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."
The Journal noted six DOGE plans:
- Musk indicated he could cut $2 trillion from the federal budget but has not specified how or in what time frame. The figure would represent nearly 30% of the current $6.8 trillion the government has spent during the fiscal year ending Sept. 30. One way Musk has floated to trim massive amounts of spending quickly is to eliminate whole entities such as the Department of Education and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
- Cutting regulations would be the next line of attack for Musk and Ramaswamy, noting two recent Supreme Court rulings that federal agencies can't impose some regulations unless specifically authorized by Congress. DOGE plans to begin by presenting Trump with those regulations the president-elect could use executive authority to suspend and then initiate the review process to officially remove them.
- DOGE plans to reduce the federal work force. More than 2 million people currently work for the federal government, with many as civilians working for the Department of Defense.
- Ending remote work has been discussed by Musk and Ramaswamy, of which they assumed the mere discussion would lead to a many voluntary resignations. The Wall Street Journal cited a 2023 Government Accountability Office report, which found 17 agencies that had less than a quarter utilization of their headquarters buildings early that year.
- Ending Daylight Savings Time has long been floated by politicians, but DOGE might actually have the wherewithal to see it through. Many Americans find the concept inefficient and outdated. Despite the Senate passing a bill in 2022, the House declined to vote on the measure.
- DOGE plans to go through many of President Joe Biden's spending priorities, some of which appeared to be aimed directly at Musk, CEO of Tesla. The Biden administration floated a loan from the $400 billion clean-energy lending program to EV startup Rivian Automotive to fund a plant in Georgia. DOGE could tighten some rules for tax credits making them harder for companies to claim.
Musk and Ramaswamy announced they will launch a podcast called "DOGEcast" with plans to make public all the government cost cutting they're considering and how such streamlining will be implemented.
James Morley III ✉
James Morley III is a writer with more than two decades of experience in entertainment, travel, technology, and science and nature.
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