Charlie Savage’s Twitter Archive—№ 16,137

Vivek Ramaswamy gave a speech saying he'd fire 75% of federal workers and abolish several agencies -- a confidently asserted, attention-getting claim that, upon closer inspection, didn't have much substance behind it. /1 w/ @ChrisCameronNYT nytimes.com/2023/09/13/us/politics/vivek-ramaswamy-dismantle-government.html
On twitter.com ♻️ 51 Retweets ❤️ 146 Favorites 2023 Sep 13 Mood 0

…in reply to @charlie_savage
As a practical matter, it's not clear where the jobs will come from. He didn't even mention the 3 agencies that together have 60 percent of the civilian workforce -- DOD, DHS, and the Dept of Veterans Affairs. /2
Permalink On twitter.com ♻️ 5 Retweets ❤️ 15 Favorites 2023 Sep 13 Mood 0

…in reply to @charlie_savage
He said he'd move functions of some agencies he would abolish -- like the Nuclear Regulatory Commission -- to other departments and agencies. So that's the same jobs just with a different organization. /3
Permalink On twitter.com ♻️ 5 Retweets ❤️ 13 Favorites 2023 Sep 13 Mood +2 🙂

…in reply to @charlie_savage
He said he'd abolish the FBI, but let the 15k agents move to other law enforcement agencies and just get rid of back end support. He didn't say why those 15k agents wouldn't need lawyers, intel analysts, HR administrators, IT support staff, etc elsewhere. /4
Permalink On twitter.com ♻️ 2 Retweets ❤️ 12 Favorites 2023 Sep 13 Mood +4 🙂

…in reply to @charlie_savage
Legally, he claimed that a presidency has unilateral power to legally abolish agencies and departments and reorganize the government without submitting such a plan to Congress -- which created them by statute -- for approval. /5
Permalink On twitter.com ♻️ 2 Retweets ❤️ 11 Favorites 2023 Sep 13 Mood +4 🙂

…in reply to @charlie_savage
The campaign released a white paper detailing a theory for that proposition: /6 int.nyt.com/data/documenttools/administrative-state-white-paper-v3/cfd9914cc130768c/full.pdf
Permalink On twitter.com ♻️ 2 Retweets ❤️ 4 Favorites 2023 Sep 13 Mood 0

…in reply to @charlie_savage
Basically, in 1977 Congress passed a law that said Jimmy Carter should look for ways to make the govt more efficient and submit it to Congress, which could veto it. That law expired in 1980, and the Supreme Court also later struck down such legislative veto mechanisms... /7
Permalink On twitter.com ♻️ 2 Retweets ❤️ 5 Favorites 2023 Sep 13 Mood +3 🙂

…in reply to @charlie_savage
But even though the law is kaput, Ramaswamy claims that a preamble section, which laid out its purpose, is still "law" because Congress never repealed it. /8
Permalink On twitter.com ♻️ 2 Retweets ❤️ 5 Favorites 2023 Sep 13 Mood 0

…in reply to @charlie_savage
Ramaswamy's theory is that the preamble's exhortation that Carter should take a look and find ways to make the government more efficient amounts to inadvertently giving the president permanent unilateral power to massively remake government without further legislation. /9
Permalink On twitter.com ♻️ 1 Retweets ❤️ 5 Favorites 2023 Sep 13 Mood -2 🙁

…in reply to @charlie_savage
(Talk about major questions doctrine bait!) /end
Permalink On twitter.com ♻️ 2 Retweets ❤️ 6 Favorites 2023 Sep 13 Mood 0