NASHVILLE, Tennessee – Congressman Matt Gaetz (R-FL-01) told The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network at an event in Nashville on Saturday that Republican Presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy’s bold plan to reduce the number of non-military federal employees by 50 percent in one year – a net reduction of 1 million employees from the current level of 2 million – is legally sound and will survive the expected legal challenges.
“Is Vivek Ramaswamy’s plan to reduce the number of federal employees by 50 percent, either by executive order or through the actions of agency heads and the Office of Personnel Management, on solid legal ground?” The Star asked Gaetz in an exclusive interview.
“Yes,” Gaetz responded emphatically.
“Will it survive the expected legal challenges?” The Star followed up.
“Yes, it will. It will go up to the Supreme Court, where it will be upheld 6 to 3,” Gaetz said.
Gaetz (pictured above) was in the audience – and recognized by Ramaswamy – when the biotech entrepreneur delivered his bold plan to reduce the number of non-military employees by 50 percent within one year if he is elected president at the America First Policy Institute in Washington, D.C. on Wednesday.
Ramaswamy also stated he planned to eliminate a number of agencies, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (ATF).
“I want to recognize Matt Gaetz, who actually is seen in the front row here, for proposing, as I recall from earlier this year, a piece of legislation that would have – it was January of this year – that would have defunded the ATF and caused it to abolish its existence, which is a perfectly fine way of going about doing it,” Ramaswamy said at Wednesday’s event.
“The problem with Congress is you have 500 plus people that have competing interests, that aren’t actually able to properly oversee an administrative state that reports to the duly elected chief executive of the country, which is why as the next us president, if I am elected, we will shut down the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms, one of the agencies that has been most toxic in even its misappropriation of funds,” Ramaswamy continued.
Both Gaetz and Ramaswamy are attorneys. Gaetz is a graduate of the College of William and Mary Law School and Ramaswamy is a graduate of Yale Law School. While neither has practiced law extensively – Ramaswamy has focused on a career in business, while Gaetz has focused on a career in politics – Ramaswamy notes that he has relied upon the advice of legal experts who are at “the bleeding edge” of legal theory.
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Michael Patrick Leahy is the CEO and Editor-in-Chief of The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network.
Photo “Rep Matt Gaetz” by Rep. Matt Gaetz and “Vivek Ramaswamy” is by Vivek Ramaswamy.
