Ramaswamy, Musk Lay Out 'the DOGE Plan'

The Department of Government Efficiency may not be an official government agency, but its two leaders are wasting no time laying out their intentions. In a Wall Street Journal op-ed, Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy outline what they call "the DOGE Plan to Reform Government" (yes, the unofficial department is nicknamed after Musk's pet cryptocurrency). It involves reducing the federal workforce, rolling back regulations, and bringing federal employees back into the office full-time. Some key quotes:

• "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."

• "DOGE will present this list of regulations [that the department believes overstep the agencies' authority] 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 US economy."
• "DOGE intends to work with embedded appointees in agencies to identify the minimum number of employees required at an agency for it to perform its constitutionally permissible and statutorily mandated functions."
• "Requiring federal employees to come to the office five days a week would result in a wave of voluntary terminations that we welcome: If federal employees don't want to show up, American taxpayers shouldn't pay them for the COVID-era privilege of staying home."

The response from a union for federal employees was swift, NBC News reports. "It is clear that Musk and Ramaswamy simply do not understand how the federal workforce is staffed or operated," the union's president says. (More Department of Government Efficiency stories.)