As the Trump administration prepares to head to Washington in January, there have been lots of headlines about the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) that will be led by Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy. The duo have promised to thoroughly review the current federal government apparatus to make recommendations for regulatory and spending cuts.

Musk and Ramaswamy outlined their vision for DOGE in an article they wrote in the Wall Street Journal last week. They said they are outside volunteers and will not be federal employees or federal officials and that they will be assisting with identifying and hiring a team to work with the Office of Management and Budget to “pursue three major kinds of reform: regulatory rescissions, administrative reductions and cost savings." 

Regulatory Reforms

DOGE will operate on the premise that most rules and regulations are not enacted by Congress through the prescribed legal process outlined in the Constitution but instead by “millions of unelected, unappointed civil servants within government agencies who view themselves as immune from firing thanks to civil-service protections.”

Musk and Ramaswamy make the case in their article that the Supreme Court has held that this is unconstitutional with respect to regulations enacted by federal agencies that deal with “major economic or policy questions.” They intend to identify and present this list of regulations to President Trump to “immediately pause the enforcement of those regulations [by executive action] and initiate the process for review and rescission.”

Proposed Federal Workforce Cuts

Musk and Ramaswamy state that if there is a mass elimination of unnecessary federal regulations being dictated and overseen by federal agencies, then there will be fewer federal employees needed to work in those agencies to carry out enforcement of those regulations.

They wrote, “DOGE intends to work with embedded appointees in agencies to identify the minimum number of employees required at an agency for it to perform its constitutionally permissible and statutorily mandated functions.”

The goal is to see any federal employees who lose their jobs as part of this process to transition to private sector employment. The article states, “Employees whose positions are eliminated deserve to be treated with respect, and DOGE’s goal is to help support their transition into the private sector. The president can use existing laws to give them incentives for early retirement and to make voluntary severance payments to facilitate a graceful exit.”

They also allude to restructuring competitive service rules to facilitate downsizing the federal workforce, likely a reference to bringing back Schedule F, something the Trump administration is likely to do.

Reduction in Force (RIF)

When a federal agency has to abolish positions, RIF regulations determine if an employee remains in the same job. Some employees will have the right move into a different position but remain employed in a federal job.

A RIF is a way to restructure an agency. Some people will lose their jobs. Some people will move into different jobs. Applying the RIF regulations determines who goes and who stays.

For more information about RIFs, see What is a RIF and How Does It Work?.