David McGarry of Taxpayers Protection Alliance says this so-called new department is not in fact a new department, rather a commission or task force.
"You will find no one who argues more strongly than I do that the government is too bloated, it's too big, there is indeed too much waste and there's also just too much regulation, too much spending," says McGarry. "Essentially, the federal government is trying to do too much to regulate and control Americans' lives, and this could be a very interesting and unorthodox way to start to take a look at some of those problems."
Exactly how DOGE will operate is still sketchy.
In his statement Trump said the department will not be a federal agency but will work closely with the White House and Office of Budget and Management to initiate reforms.
Trump said DOGE could become “The Manhattan Project of our time. Republican politicians have dreamed about the objectives of DOGE for a very long time.”
McGarry assumes Ramaswamy and Musk will spend most of their time looking at the administrative state which McGarry says is the "chief offender for all of this overregulation and nanny state-ism" that pervades policy-making circles in Washington.
It sounds good, but ...
"While it may seem like a little bit of a gimmick from one angle, I actually
really hope that this commission will take a look at some of these problems and make some recommendations to reduce the size and scope of government," says McGarry.
In Washington, D.C., the path from recommendation to implementation can be long and winding.
"I know that Ramaswamy has talked about potentially cutting down the size of the federal government by 75%, but I'm slightly skeptical of anyone's ability to do that without some major statutory reforms, which would require Congress to lead. He has the correct impulse which is that what Americans need more than anything else is for the federal government to stop overspending, stop overregulating and get out of the way of the average citizen," McGarry said.
