Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy are headed to Capitol Hill next week to meet with House Republicans on their plan to cut regulations and other parts of the federal government.
Speaker Mike Johnson announced Thursday, December 5, that he will hold a meeting to discuss “major reform ideas” to “revive the principle of limited government.”
Musk and Ramaswamy have been tapped by President-elect Donald Trump to lead the so-called “Department of Government Efficiency.” Their roles have been described as “out of government” advisors to various federal agencies and their staffing cuts.
Musk, in particular, has become a member of Trump’s inner circle as the president-elect prepares for a second term. The Tesla billionaire spent Thanksgiving with Trump at Mar-a-Lago in Florida.
Elon Musk speaks after President Donald Trump addresses the America First Policy Institute gala at Mar-a-Lago on November 14, 2024 in Palm Beach, Florida.
Alex Brandon/AP
Earlier this week, Musk proposed eliminating the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
“Abolish the CFPB. There are too many duplicate regulatory agencies,” he wrote on his social media platform, X.
During the campaign, Trump vowed to dismantle the federal bureaucracy, but did not specifically call for eliminating the CFPB. Destroying an entire agency would be a difficult task, and would require legislation from Congress
The CFPB, which was created in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis to protect consumers and review the practices of the nation’s banks, lenders and other institutions, has been the target of conservative attacks on its cost and its regulations.
Earlier this year, the CFPB survived a legal challenge Led by former Trump administration attorney general Noel Francisco, the agency’s structure was alleged to be illegal on behalf of a group of receivers. The US Supreme Court, in a 7-2 decision, found the agency’s funding mechanism unconstitutional.
Musk also recently updated on social media the names of specific people and jobs he proposed to cut. There are staff from the Department of Energy and the US International Development Finance Corporation. “So many fake jobs,” Musk wrote in a post.
Vivek Ramaswamy speaks at a rally for Republican presidential candidate and former US President Donald Trump at Madison Square Garden in New York on October 27, 2024.
Andrew Kelly/Reuters
Musk and Ramaswamy explained more of DOGE’s plans in one Wall Street Journal publication published last week.
They said they were helping Trump’s transition team put together a “soft team of small government cruisers” focused on three main actions: repealing regulations, reducing the administrative workforce and saving costs.
“We are prepared for the attack of entrenched interests in Washington. We hope to prevail”, they wrote. “Now is the time for decisive action. DOGE’s main goal is to eliminate the need for its existence by July 4, 2026, the expiration date we have set for our project.”
Legal and logistical obstacles Musk and Ramaswamy’s goal of reducing government remains. But they will get help from a new congressional subcommittee on Capitol Hill that aims to eliminate government waste along with DOGE. Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, conservative firebrand and staunch Trump supporter, has been. chosen for the chair panel
Ramaswamy, responding to Johnson’s announcement of next week’s meeting, said he has had “great discussions” so far with House and Senate GOP leaders about DOGE.
“Congress seems serious about delivering structural reforms. We look forward to productive meetings in DC next week,” Ramaswamy wrote in X.
