Summary
Elon Musk, serving as “Co-President” under Donald Trump, proposed eliminating all federal regulations by default, arguing they restrict freedom.
In a leaked call with Republican lawmakers, including Senators Joni Ernst and Mike Lee, Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy saw Trump’s second term and a conservative Supreme Court as a unique chance to deregulate government permanently.
Critics argue such actions would be unconstitutional and dangerous, risking public health and safety.
Ernst later defended the plan on Fox News, calling it necessary “disruption.”
A lot of these regulations are in place at the direction of congress through laws they have passed. That’s where the authority comes from… I don’t see how republicans will be able to repeal these laws quickly. So how far can Musk really go when legislation can still be stalled and/or fillibustered?
Hopefully some semblance of the balance of power holds. Federal regulations are often times the bare minimum with states adding in more stringent requirements.
The approach republicans are using is simply doing what they want and because they are in power in all 3 branches of government, not enforcing the laws preventing them from doing what they want. As in, they aren’t waiting for legislation to allow their actions, they just do it without legislation skipping the check on power entirely. Because republicans hold the Legislative Branch (the branch that should check this power), they simply don’t and let their republican friends in the Executive run roughshod over everything.
If there are no enforced consequences, the laws are toothless. Since the republicans in other parts of government are not enforcing consequences, there are none.