Vivek Ramaswamy, Elon Musk teach us about the Founding Fathers, DOGE

Thanks to this op-ed by Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, people get a brief lesson in constitutional government initially designed by Madison, Jefferson and Hamilton.

The opening paragraph of their op-ed says "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. Most government enforcement decisions and discretionary expenditures aren’t made by the democratically elected president or even his political appointees but by millions of unelected, unappointed civil servants within government agencies who view themselves as immune from firing thanks to civil-service protections."

Our federal government hasn't functioned that way for decades. For too long, we've handed decision-making authority over to agency chiefs and bureaucrats. Mr. Ramaswamy and Mr. Musk then continue their op-ed with this paragraph:

This is antidemocratic and antithetical to the Founders’ vision. It imposes massive direct and indirect costs on taxpayers. Thankfully, we have a historic opportunity to solve the problem. On Nov. 5, voters decisively elected Donald Trump with a mandate for sweeping change, and they deserve to get it.

Music to My Ears

President Trump has asked the two of us to lead a newly formed Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, to cut the federal government down to size. The entrenched and ever-growing bureaucracy represents an existential threat to our republic, and politicians have abetted it for too long. That’s why we’re doing things differently. We are entrepreneurs, not politicians. We will serve as outside volunteers, not federal officials or employees. Unlike government commissions or advisory committees, we won’t just write reports or cut ribbons. We’ll cut costs.

If you're expecting different results, it's essential that you better employ different methods. CBS's Kelly O'Grady did a fair job of explaining what DOGE, aka Department of Government Efficiency, can do in this report:

It was particularly noteworthy that Ms. O'Grady mentioned that "there's $100,000,000,000 alone in Medicare fraud." While that doesn't get them to their $2,000,000,000,000 goal, it's a strong start. They don't have to even cut a person's benefits. They just have to identify the money, then take back the money.

SCOTUS' Role

Our North Star for reform will be the U.S. Constitution, with a focus on two critical Supreme Court rulings issued during President Biden’s tenure.

In West Virginia v. Environmental Protection Agency (2022), the justices held that agencies can’t impose regulations dealing with major economic or policy questions unless Congress specifically authorizes them to do so. In Loper Bright v. Raimondo (2024), the court overturned the Chevron doctrine and held that federal courts should no longer defer to federal agencies’ interpretations of the law or their own rulemaking authority. Together, these cases suggest that a plethora of current federal regulations exceed the authority Congress has granted under the law.

These are significant rulings by the Supreme Court, rulings that require significant adjustments by the bureaucracy. This is another excellent explanation of the Musk-Ramaswamy blueprint:

The Supreme Court has ruled that major regulations packages implemented by federal agencies are unconstitutional. SCOTUS ruled that major case doctrines require legislation. This happened as a result of the West Virginia v. EPA ruling. Since it isn't likely that regulatory agencies are willing to self-police themselves, it'll require DOGE's forceful hand to enforce this ruling. Here's how it'll be done:

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. DOGE will present this list of regulations 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 U.S. economy.

When the president nullifies thousands of such regulations, critics will allege executive overreach. In fact, it will be correcting the executive overreach of thousands of regulations promulgated by administrative fiat that were never authorized by Congress. The president owes lawmaking deference to Congress, not to bureaucrats deep within federal agencies. The use of executive orders to substitute for lawmaking by adding burdensome new rules is a constitutional affront, but the use of executive orders to roll back regulations that wrongly bypassed Congress is legitimate and necessary to comply with the Supreme Court’s recent mandates. And after those regulations are fully rescinded, a future president couldn’t simply flip the switch and revive them but would instead have to ask Congress to do so.

That isn't judicial activism. It's correcting executive overreach or activism. The government is too big, too intrusive. It's time to trim it back to constitional proportions.