DOGE’s Elon Musk Pinpoints Departments to Scrap, Drawing on Milton Friedman’s Vision for a Lean Government

The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) chief Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy have continued to share insights into which government agencies need urgent trimming when Trump takes office in January 2025.

Musk has promised that DOGE will cut $2 trillion in fat from the federal budget.

The Tesla and SpaceX CEO and founder shared economics Nobel Laureate Milton Friedman’s vision of a lean government, highlighting the extent of the federal government’s bloat, including agencies that should not have been created in the first place. Musk believes Friedman’s ideas on tackling the sprawling bureaucracy and wasteful spending were the best.

According to Friedman, the federal government should exist in its leanest form to “preserve the peace, defend the country, [and] provide a mechanism whereby individuals can adjudicate their disputes.”

Subsequently, the deceased economist suggested scrapping various redundant departments whose functions could be restructured or transferred to other departments. 

According to Friedman, the Department of Housing and Urban Development has caused an “enormous amount of harm,” and, therefore, should be scrapped. The United States currently grapples with inadequate housing and homelessness, which the department has failed to address.

Friedman also suggested scraping the Department of Agriculture and the Department of Commerce while maintaining the Department of Defense.

Similarly, the Department of Education should also not exist as well as the Department of Energy, except areas dealing with nuclear energy, which should be transferred to the Department of Defense. During his campaign, Trump threatened to scrap the Department of Education and transfer the responsibility to the states.

The economist also designated the Department of Labor and the Department of Transportation as both unnecessary.

However, Friedman defended the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) by saying, “There is some room for public health activities to prevent the contagion.” Trump’s HHS appointee, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., has proposed scrapping entire departments at the Food and Drugs Administration (FDA).

Friedman also suggested retaining the Department of the Interior until the federal government sells off all its land, except on which public buildings reside. Ironically, the Obama and Biden administrations increased the federal government’s land in what Trump called the largest federal land grab in American history.

However, the Department of Justice, the State Department, and the Treasury must also remain, especially the latter, for collecting taxes, which are necessary for funding various public services, including defense. Similarly, the Department of Veterans Affairs should exist to pay people who served in the military.

It is unlikely that Musk’s DOGE will implement Friedman’s suggestions to the letter. However, the department will likely trim unnecessary functions within these departments to prevent wasteful spending and reduce unnecessary bureaucracy. Similarly, DOGE could reduce wasteful spending even in departments that are not earmarked for scrapping.

Nonetheless, reshaping, delegating, or transferring functions from one scrapped department to another could take time, given the complicated legal landscape that DOGE must navigate. 

However, Friedman’s suggestions lay the groundwork for areas the federal government should target for trimming in the future.