Kerby Anderson

Decades ago, Ronald Reagan observed, “No government ever voluntarily reduces itself in size. Government programs, once launched, never disappear. Actually, a government bureau is the nearest thing to eternal life we'll ever see on this earth.”

This is the challenge that Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy face as they lead the newly formed Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). The two of them explained their plan to reform the government in their Wall Street Journal op-ed. They are assisting the Trump transition team in identifying and hiring a team of small-government crusaders who will work with the Office of Management and Budget.

They aren’t the first outsiders to attempt to trim the bureaucracy. J. Peter Grace led the Grace Commission, that filed its report with Ronald Reagan in 1984. President Obama formed the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform (often called Simpson–Bowles in honor of the two co-chairs). Neither commission had much of an impact on the size and scope of the federal bureaucracy.

Both Musk and Ramaswamy believe they have a better chance of success due to two Supreme Court rulings concerning federal regulations. They will present a list of regulations to President Trump who will pause the enforcement of those regulations by executive action.

They also challenge the conventional assumption that civil-service protections stop a president from firing federal workers. They don’t plan to target specific employees but merely reduce the size of the department. And they point to other Supreme Court cases to support their belief.

Trimming the administrative state won’t be easy, but I think they may have found an open door that will allow them to succeed in reforming the federal government.