Vivek Ramaswamy, co-leader of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), shared a bold vision for reshaping federal bureaucracy in an exclusive Sunday interview. Speaking with Maria Bartiromo, Ramaswamy emphasized the urgent need for sweeping changes and a clear path to restore accountability within the government.
“The failures of the executive branch need to be addressed because the dirty little secret right now is the people we elect to run the government, they’re not the ones who actually run the government. It’s the unelected bureaucrats in the administrative state that was created through executive action. It’s going to be fixed through executive action,” Ramaswamy stated.
A Plan Rooted in Executive Action
Ramaswamy outlined how changes would begin with executive orders designed to dismantle outdated regulations, using recent Supreme Court decisions as a foundation.
“Think about the Supreme Court’s environment. Over the last several years, they’ve held that many of those regulations are unconstitutional at a large scale. Rescind those regulations, pull those regs back, and then that gives us the industrial logic to then downsize the size of that administrative state. And the beauty of all of this is that can be achieved just through executive action without Congress. Score some early wins, and then you look at those bigger portions of the federal budget that need to be addressed one by one,” he explained.
Transforming Government at the Core
Ramaswamy promised swift action, saying, “This is about restoring self-governance and accountability in America as well.”
He highlighted the importance of elected leaders being held accountable for decisions—a sharp contrast to unelected bureaucrats who often escape scrutiny.
“This is about restoring self-governance and accountability in America as well. Elected leaders, if they make the wrong decisions, voters have a great choice. You can vote them out and remove them. Most of the people making these decisions from health care to the Department of Defense are failing on effectiveness because they have no accountability. Historically, it’s been the view of many scholars to say that those people could not even be fired. Now we take a different view with the environment the Supreme Court has given us in recent years, and we’re going to use that in a pretty extensive way to move quickly,” Ramaswamy added.
High-Stakes Leadership
President-elect Donald Trump’s selection of Ramaswamy and Elon Musk to lead DOGE underscores his commitment to dismantling bureaucracy. Both leaders are tasked with presenting transformative proposals, though neither will serve as official federal employees.
DOGE’s mission is set to conclude by July 4, 2026, symbolically aligning with the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. Their work is expected to pave the way for Congress to enact long-term budgetary changes.
Ramaswamy said that rescinding unconstitutional regulations and shrinking the administrative state will create opportunities for meaningful steps in reducing the federal budget.
A Unified Front with Trump
Ramaswamy’s commitment to government reform has come at a personal cost. Following Trump’s appointment, he withdrew from consideration for the Ohio Senate seat vacated by Vice President-elect JD Vance.
Throughout the 2024 election cycle, Ramaswamy and Musk were staunch allies of Trump, actively campaigning in key battleground states. Their efforts culminated in a celebratory appearance at UFC 309 in Madison Square Garden alongside Trump and his supporters.
Trump secured a landslide victory on Nov. 5, sweeping all seven swing states and defeating Vice President Kamala Harris.
