Vivek Ramaswamy, the biotech entrepreneur making significant waves in the GOP presidential primary, laid out a bold plan for restructuring, downsizing, or completely eliminating “redundant” and “corrupt” federal agencies—starting with the FBI.
Ramaswamy, currently in third place for the GOP presidential nomination, has gained serious momentum within the largely stalled Republican field, adopting several out-of-the-box strategies that have made him popular as a political outsider. But in what is likely to be his most controversial campaign goal to date, he has promised to utterly gut the “administrative state,” with an eye on “reducing the federal employee headcount by over 75%” by the end of a hypothetical second term in 2033. He intends to “uproot the unconstitutional fourth branch of government,” the bloated federal bureaucracy, as he said at the libertarian FreedomFest conference in Memphis, Tennessee.
“The Department of Education, the FBI, the ATF, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the IRS, the Department of Commerce…many of these should not exist,” Ramaswamy told Fox News.
Of particular focus is the Federal Bureau of Investigation, which many within the Republican Party claim has become little more than a politicized tool for the Democratic administration. Ramaswamy argues that the bureau has been corrupt since its founding, stating: “At the federal level, we have the US Marshals, and we have the DOJ. We don’t need that separate J. Edgar Hoover-style FBI sitting in between…It’s a waste of bureaucracy. But when you have a bureaucracy that should not exist, that’s a formula for corruption.” Dismantling groups like the FBI and restructuring executive agencies is not a goal unique to Ramaswamy and is in fact shared by several of his fellow candidates under the banner of “draining the swamp.” However, the major challenge has always been finding a way to make it happen—but Ramaswamy has a plan.
Join Valuetainment for a special live town hall with Vivek Ramaswamy on August 4!
Citing the Presidential Reorganization Act of 1977, which allows the president to submit plans for restructuring executive agencies, he intends to initially target the FBI, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, and the Department of Education. In each instance, he plans to redistribute departmental functions and the associated funding to other agencies, eliminating both redundancy and expense. Ramaswamy tweeted out convenient graphics highlighting what he intends to do for each agency.
SHUT DOWN THE FBI.
I’ll do it. Here’s how.https://t.co/QFRbsh3JDC pic.twitter.com/bahiai8VTy— Vivek Ramaswamy (@VivekGRamaswamy) July 20, 2023
For the FBI, corruption investigations will fall to the Secret Service operating under the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). Counterintelligence will be handled by the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) under the Department of Defense (DoD), and white-collar crimes will be investigated by the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) under the Department of the Treasury (DoT).
SHUT DOWN THE NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION.
I’ll do it. Here’s how. pic.twitter.com/EvNewZISmG— Vivek Ramaswamy (@VivekGRamaswamy) July 20, 2023
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission, which Ramaswamy claims stifles innovation and jeopardizes American energy security, will have its functions divided between the DHS, the Department of Energy (DoE), the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).
SHUT DOWN THE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION.
I’ll do it. Here’s how. pic.twitter.com/1ohZtJZ6qz— Vivek Ramaswamy (@VivekGRamaswamy) July 20, 2023
Lastly, the responsibility for managing federal grants and student loans typically given to the Department of Education, a source of “divisive ideologies,” will instead go to the Department of Labor (DoL), the Department of State (DoS), and the Department of Treasury. Additionally, removing legislation around grants would save taxpayers an estimated $8 billion annually.
This ambitious plan is only the beginning of what Ramaswamy promises to do. More plans like these are likely in the works, to be revealed in the coming days.
And for anyone interested in finding out more about Vivek Ramaswamy’s plans for the United States, Valuetainment is excited to announce the first installment in our “Meet the Candidate” series kicking off with Ramaswamy himself!
Join Vivek, PBD, and the rest of the Valuetainment Team at our studio in Fort Lauderdale, Florida on Friday, August 4th at 7 pm.
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