New Senate majority leader ‘excited’ to ‘dismantle federal bureaucracy’

John Thune of South Dakota, who Senate Republicans elected as majority leader on Wednesday, said he supports the non-governmental Department of Government Efficiency led by tech billionaire Elon Musk and former presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy. President-elect Donald Trump said the initiative will provide outside guidance “to dismantle government bureaucracy, slash excess regulations, cut wasteful expenditures and restructure federal agencies.” 

“People in this country are ready — they are hungry — for a leaner, more effective, more efficient federal government that distributes power out of Washington….” Thune said in a Thursday interview with Fox News’ Bret Baier. 

According to an official White House pool report, Ramaswamy thanked the president-elect during a Thursday event at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club for putting Musk and him in a position to begin the “mass deportations” of individuals from the civil service. 

On Wednesday, Everett Kelley, national president of the American Federation of Government Employees, warned against massive cuts to benefits and services if recommendations from the initiative led by Musk and Ramaswamy become law. 

“Budget cuts of this magnitude, coupled with the massive tax reductions Trump has said he will implement, will affect vital programs that tens of millions of Americans currently rely on for their financial security and their health and safety,” Kelley said in a statement. “This includes Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, food assistance for low-income families, veterans’ benefits and health care and so much more.”

Thune, who previously served as Senate GOP whip, also in the Fox News interview criticized teleworking feds, pointing to an April 2024 Federal News Network survey of approximately 6,300 federal employees that found only 6% work entirely in-person. 

“If that’s true, there ought to be some real opportunities to achieve some savings, and frankly, for that matter, why do we have all these agencies and departments here in Washington, D.C.?” Thune said. “They could be other places around the country because people aren’t showing up at the office anyway.” 

However, an Office of Management and Budget report found that, as of May 2024, 54% of federal employees worked entirely in-person.

Trump also has called for moving federal agencies out of Washington, D.C., and attempted to do so during his first term. 

Thune also has said that he is open to enabling Trump to make appointments using recess appointment authority. Under the authority, a president can appoint an individual for up to two years to a position that would normally require Senate confirmation if the chamber is in recess for a certain amount of time. 

In recent years, congressional leaders have organized the legislative schedule in a way that prevents the president from making such an appointment. If there is insufficient support in the chamber to confirm some of Trump’s nominees, then recess authority could be a way for Trump to still successfully appoint them.