BUTLER, PENNSYLVANIA - OCTOBER 05: Elon Musk (L) shakes hands with Republican presidential nominee, former President Donald Trump back stage during a campaign rally at the Butler Farm Show grounds on October 05, 2024 in Butler, Pennsylvania. This is the first time that Trump has returned to Butler since he was injured during an attempted assassination on July 13. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images

‘This will send shockwaves through the system’: Trump’s DOGE duo allegedly set to ‘delete’ government agencies

Vivek Ramaswamy spoke about government agencies and federal workers as if they were business products: disposable to the whims of a CEO. This is particularly relevant as he and Elon Musk have been tasked with leading the Department of Government Efficiency.

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During a Fox News interview, Ramaswamy claimed, “We expect certain agencies to be deleted outright.” There are numerous agencies that he and Musk are eyeing to strike. Particularly for Ramaswamy, the Department of Education is an institution he’s pushing to dismantle.

In addition to this, he and Elon Musk intend to downsize the number of civil servants when they take on their roles at the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). This is all in the name of reducing government spending. Nevertheless, there is skepticism that Musk and Ramaswamy will be able to save billions in dollars just by laying off federal workers. After all, government expenditure largely goes to healthcare, social security, and the military. In the context of businesses, Ramaswamy and Musk can keep cost-cutting for the sake of efficiency. The same can’t be said for government structures, which aren’t built for profit-making. Musk himself would have no idea how to run governments either, since he’s never held a political position.

A dream of corporate capture

DOGE, according to Donald Trump, will “slash excess regulations, cut wasteful expenditures, and restructure federal agencies.” Although it has department in its acronym, DOGE will be a project working outside the government in partnership with the Office of Management and Budget. Despite conflicting interests, Musk and Ramaswamy will be heading the newly minted DOGE.

Ramaswamy and Musk stand to gain from running DOGE. Notably, Musk has been facing federal regulatory issues with several of his companies. Neuralink, Tesla, Space X, and X are all either facing federal investigations or regulatory battles. Meanwhile, Ramaswamy is the founder of Roivant Sciences. His incoming role at DOGE may allow his firm to dodge federal requirements. Congress will be the last stand against Musk and Ramaswamy’s plan to gut the government. For now, Musk and Ramaswamy’s dystopic, hyper-technocratic vision will be far from reality.

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Vanessa Esguerra
Vanessa Esguerra (She/They) has been a Contributing Writer for The Mary Sue since 2023. After graduating with a Bachelor of Arts in Political Economy, she (happily) rejected law school in 2021 and has been a full-time content writer since. Vanessa is currently taking her Master's degree in Japanese Studies in hopes of deepening her understanding of the country's media culture in relation to pop culture, women, and queer people like herself. She speaks three languages but still manages to get lost in the subways of Tokyo with her clunky Japanese. Fueled by iced coffee brewed from local cafés in Metro Manila, she also regularly covers anime and video games while queuing for her next match in League of Legends.