Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy on Sunday unveiled how he would slim down federal bureaucracy and critics had thoughts.
Ramaswamy spelled out on X, formerly Twitter, that if he won the 2024 election he’d “instantly” fire 50% of federal bureaucrats on his first day in office.
Who would find themselves terminated? Ramaswamy proposed using the highly scientific method removing those government workers whose social security number ends in an odd number.
“That downsizes government by half. Absolutely *nothing* will break as a result,” he claimed. “It doesn’t violate civil service rules because mass layoffs are exempt.”
On Day 1, *instantly* fire 50% of federal bureaucrats.
Here’s how: if your SSN ends in an odd number, you’re fired.
That downsizes government by half. Absolutely *nothing* will break as a result.
It doesn’t violate civil service rules because mass layoffs are exempt.
SHUT IT…
— Vivek Ramaswamy (@VivekGRamaswamy) November 12, 2023
In a second post, Ramaswamy claimed it “avoids civil service protections” because people can’t claim “their firings were politically motivated.”
“Further firings can be executed with a chisel, but Step 1 needs to be an unrestrained chainsaw or else it just won’t happen.”
This avoids civil service protections: no bureaucrat can claim their firings were politically motivated.
Further firings can be executed with a chisel, but Step 1 needs to be an unrestrained chainsaw or else it just won’t happen.
— Vivek Ramaswamy (@VivekGRamaswamy) November 12, 2023
Critics were stunned by the plan from Ramaswamy, who is currently polling fourth in the GOP race with around 4%. Former President Donald Trump remains the clear front-runner on 58%.
This is literally the dumbest thing I’ve heard in a very long time.
The fact that this clown has 5% in the polls is a disgrace.
— Republicans against Trump (@RpsAgainstTrump) November 13, 2023
100% chance Vivek’s SSN ends in an even number
— MBA Associate (@ValueConfusion) November 12, 2023
I thought this was a joke. Lol. Someone take the power stone away from Vivek.
You’re not even going to filter by some sort of meritocratic heuristic to keep high performers? Of course something will break.
— Oleg Kostour 🇺🇦🇨🇦🇺🇸 (@OlegKostour) November 12, 2023
What if we did it by zodiac signs?
— Justin Brannan (@JustinBrannan) November 12, 2023
No, it’s arbitrary and capricious. You would spend the entirety of your term in court fighting wrongful termination lawsuits, which you would lose.
— Rory Arnold (@arnold_rory) November 12, 2023
Bad idea. So random. Some agencies are understaffed. Wiping out half the VA for example would be fatal to a failing agency and would impact vets disproportionately
— D. A. Browne 🇺🇸 (@don5025) November 12, 2023
Can you please publish your own SSN here
Just so we could check if you will get fired or not
— Jaanus K 🌻💙💛 (@jaanus) November 12, 2023
Voila, it is illegal and a violation of the First Amendment and HIPPA to know someone’s SSN without their consent.
Delete this
— Three Year Letterman (@3YearLetterman) November 13, 2023
Day 1: take jobs away from millions of Americans
Nice!
— H (@ZiVeli_Q) November 12, 2023
Vivek’s gonna instafire half of America’s border patrol agents and then wonder why his approval rating is 10% among Texas Republicans
— Swann Marcus (@SwannMarcus89) November 12, 2023
