New Administration: Cut Federal Workforce, Regulations, and Spending

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DOGE heads Musk and Ramaswamy plan to President Trump with a list of thousands of federal regulations that "exceed the authority Congress has granted under the law" for him to nullify

Entrepreneurs Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, appointed by President-elect Donald Trump as chiefs of a new Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), in a November 20 Wall Street Journal opinion piece outline their three goals: regulatory rescissions, administrative reductions. and cost savings.

Referencing the Supreme Court's 2024 Loper Bright decision, which overturned the Chevron doctrine's reliance on federal agencies to realize statutory intent, the authors say they will present President Trump with a list of thousands of federal regulations that "exceed the authority Congress has granted under the law" for him to nullify. Certainly, LeadingAge counts CMS's 2024 final rule imposing minimum staffing standards in nursing homes to be among these types of regulations.

Mr. Musk and Mr. Ramaswamy also envision actions to reduce the federal workforce through "large-scale firings to relocations of federal agencies outside of the Washington area" and say that "[r]equiring federal employees to come to the office five days a week would result in a wave of voluntary terminations that we welcome: If federal employees don't want to show up, American taxpayers shouldn't pay them for the Covid-era privilege of staying home."

Mr. Musk and Mr. Ramaswamy say they will act as voluntary advisors to DOGE, which will be staffed with a "lean team of small-government crusaders" who will work to reduce regulations, cut the federal workforce, and reduce federal spending, in part by taking aim at unauthorized expenditures and programs being used in ways never intended by Congress. President-elect Trump has tasked DOGE with identifying $2 trillion in spending cuts.

LeadingAge will be monitoring and engaging in the DOGE's work, to both provide regulatory relief needed by aging services providers and to ensure resources needed to provide services are not curtailed.

Read the opinion piece here (account access required).