Vivek Ramaswamy vows to shut down FBI, IRS and more if elected president
By Ryan General
October 2, 2023
Republican presidential hopeful Vivek Ramaswamy has unveiled a sweeping plan to shut down federal agencies, including the FBI, and cut more than a million federal jobs, should he win the presidency.
Federal agencies shutdown: Ramaswamy first unveiled his plan during a town hall at the New Hampshire Institute of Politics back in July and then at a speech at the America First Policy Institute in Washington on Sept. 13. The 38-year-old businessman outlined a radical vision to significantly reduce the size and influence of the federal government.
His initial proposal included shutting down five federal agencies, namely the FBI, the Department of Education, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service. He said he intends to slash the federal workforce by half in his first year as president and further reduce it by 75% during his first term.
Challenging the “deep state”: Ramaswamy reiterated his plan to abolish federal agencies at the California Republican Party Fall Convention in Anaheim on Saturday. Ramaswamy also pledged to shut down the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
“Today, the people who we elect to run the government are no longer the ones who actually run the government. It is the deep state in the shadow government of those three-letter agencies that wield power today. That is why I’ve said that as your next president, I will shut down the unconstitutional federal administrative state.”
Potential challenges: The implementation of such a radical overhaul would face immense resistance from federal employees, who benefit from civil service protections, as well as from bipartisan lawmakers and interest groups who support the missions of these agencies. While former President Donald Trump often criticized the so-called “deep state,” he did not enact such massive layoffs during his term.
Similar intentions: Other Republican candidates, such as Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, have expressed similar intentions, including eliminating the IRS and other federal departments.
Conservative organizations, along with former Trump administration officials, are similarly working on plans to oust federal employees and replace them with like-minded individuals in the event of Trump’s return to the White House.
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