Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy have outlined their plans for the Department of Government Effectiveness (DOGE), a currently non-existent entity that they say will “cut the federal government down to size.” Although DOGE is not a real department – ​​and may in fact just be President-elect Donald Trump’s way of appeasing Musk by making it look like a real job – it represents a long-standing attempt to the right to empty the civil service. a plan that the new administration fully supports.

DOGE could be a mechanism for a Musk shadow presidency, an absurd job designed to keep Musk busy without giving him real power, or a curious mix of the two. Regardless, Musk and Ramaswamy proposed removing “thousands” of federal regulations and determining the “minimum number of employees required in an agency for it to carry out its constitutionally authorized and statutorily mandated functions.”

Even though these policies are not implemented by DOGE’s “willing” advisors, Trump and Vice President-elect JD Vance have advanced similar ideas in the past. Towards the end of his first term, Trump signed a decree by removing some federal jobs from job protection, a tool Trump and his allies hoped would be used to purge dissidents from the ranks of the so-called “deep state.” The order, called Annex F, was never implemented — but it will likely be back on the table once Trump takes office in January.

Vance also raised the possibility of eliminating the federal bureaucracy. In a 2021 interview with right-wing podcaster Jack Murphy, Vance said Trump should “fire every mid-level bureaucrat, every administrative state official, and replace them with our people.” And when the courts stop you, stand before the country and say, “The Chief Justice has made his decision.” Now let him apply it.’

This time, it is not clear whether the courts would be Stop Trump, who in his first term appointed more judges to the federal judiciary than any of his predecessors and will inherit a supremely friendly Supreme Court. And as Musk and Ramaswamy noted in their explanation of how DOGE works, the new Trump administration has something new at its disposal: the recent Supreme Court decision in Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondothe landmark case that overturned Chevron’s deference.

“The president must legislate with deference to Congress, not to bureaucrats within federal agencies,” Musk and Ramaswamy write. “With a decisive electoral mandate and a 6-3 conservative majority on the Supreme Court, DOGE has a historic opportunity for structural reductions in the federal government.”

These suggestions closely resemble a proposal to abolish the civil service first floated by Curtis Yarvin, a “neoreactionary” philosopher and self-described monarchist with ties to Peter Thiel. In 2012, Yarvin presented his own idea for “rebooting” government, which he called “Retire All Government Employees” or RAGE.

Yarvin recently said on a podcast that he had never met Musk – “I don’t think his bodyguards would allow it” – and denies having any influence over other members of Trumpworld, including Vance. (He once called Vance “a random normie politician I’ve barely met.”) But Yarvin’s ideas have resonated with members of the new Trump administration, including Claremont Institute fellow Michael Anton on the right. in the race being Trump’s deputy national security advisor.

Unlike new members of the Trump administration — and unofficial advisers like Musk and Ramaswamy — Yarvin has made clear that his ultimate goal is to eliminate liberal democracy altogether. Yarvin has no qualms about identifying himself as a monarchist or suggesting that the United States should be led by a “benevolent” dictator. (Neither does Anton, for that matter.) But Musk’s vision for DOGE isn’t that different from RAGE’s. The goal is massive deregulation – a weakening of checks and balances and a significant reduction in basic government services, all in the name of concentrating power among a small group of plutocrats.

On overall federal budget. But DOGE isn’t just about cutting costs, it’s also about removing the kinds of security regulations that Tesla, SpaceX, and Musk’s other companies are regularly accused of flouting. It’s about saving money for itself, not for you, me or anyone else.