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CALL IT THE ‘DISMANTLING GOVERNMENT ACT’: HOUSE GOP ADVANCES BILL
BACKING MUSK-LED DESTRUCTION  
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Julia Conley
March 26, 2025
Common Dreams
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_ "This bill would rubber-stamp unchecked abuses of power even
further," said the leader of one government watchdog group. _

Rep. James Comer (R-Ky), chairman of the House Overight Committee,
speaks during a hearing on Captiol Hill., (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

 

The top Democrat on the U.S. House committee tasked with holding the
Trump administration accountable said Tuesday during a debate on a
Republican proposal that the GOP knows President Donald Trump
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"'delete' whole federal agencies" or "take a chainsaw to beloved
programs like Social Security and Medicaid."

"Congressional Republicans also know these dangerous, deeply unpopular
cuts would never be approved by Congress through regular order," said
[[link removed]] Rep.
Gerry Connolly (D-Va.), ranking member of the House Committee on
Oversight and Government Reform. "So now they've brought us H.R. 1295,
the so-called Reorganizing Government Act, in a desperate attempt to
circumvent the normal congressional process."

The bill
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said Connolly, would more accurately be called the Dismantling
Government Act, with its resurrection of a "long-dormant statute as a
Trojan horse to give President Trump and Elon Musk
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filibuster-proof authority to eliminate federal departments and
agencies, statutory programs, government services, and regulatory
protections that promote the health and well-being of American
families."

H.R. 1295 was approved to advance out of the committee in a party-line
vote, with Republicans voting to give Trump authority that has not
been granted by Congress since 1984, allowing him to submit a plan to
restructure federal agencies. Congress would be required to vote on
the plan within 90 days and the proposals would not be subject to a
filibuster, allowing the GOP-controlled Senate to approve the
dismantling of agencies with a simple majority.

Between 1932 and 1984, Congress periodically gave presidents limited
authority to reorganize limited portions of the government, but
lawmakers have denied requests from both Democratic and Republican
presidents to renew the authority.

Under the Dismantling Government Act, Trump would be permitted to make
sweeping changes to agencies through December 31, 2026, and the
previous limitation barring presidents from abolishing agencies would
be removed.

In his opening statement during the committee's debate on the
legislation Tuesday, Connolly warned that "the Dismantling Government
Act would grant Donald Trump and Elon Musk a filibuster-proof pathway
to get their reckless actions blessed by Congress, and we already know
exactly what they'll do with that power."

The Republicans proposed the legislation amid numerous attempts by
Trump and Musk, the billionaire tech CEO and megadonor he appointed to
lead the so-called Department of Government Efficiency
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agencies
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freeze government funding—some of which have been blocked
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courts [[link removed]].

"The reason they are pushing for this bill is because Donald Trump,
Elon Musk, and DOGE [[link removed]] have
already been found consistently to be acting outside of the law in
their mass layoffs and agency closures by the courts," said
[[link removed]] Rep.
Yassamin Ansari (D-Ariz). "Now, instead of defending their own powers,
congressional Republicans are pushing forward this bill to hand over
their powers to the president."

Under the Dismantling Government Act, Trump and Musk would be granted
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unilateral power to:

* Abolish federal departments and agencies including the Department
of Education, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, and other
federal agencies that protect consumers, with just a simple majority
vote in the House and the Senate;
* End statutory programs mandated by Congress through
"reorganization" plans, which could lead to cuts in Social Security,
Medicare, Medicaid, and other essential programs Americans rely on;
* Gut agencies' abilities to enforce laws and regulations, and
eliminate rules and regulations deemed "unnecessary and burdensome,"
threatening protections for Americans' clean drinking water,
environment, health, and safety; and
* Fire federal workers, hamstringing the courts' ability to serve as
a check for the dismantling of our government.

"Since the start of the Trump-Musk regime they have engaged in
shocking abuses of power and taken a wrecking ball to the services and
earned benefits regular Americans depend on to pay for more tax breaks
for their billionaire donors and expand their own fortunes," said
[[link removed]] Tony
Carrk, executive director of Accountable.US. "This bill, better called
the Dismantling Government Act, is a power grab that would greenlight
an enormous expansion of presidential power, help Trump and Musk skirt
checks and balances, and accelerate their ultimate agenda of gutting
Medicaid, Medicare, and Social Security to offset tax cuts for the
wealthiest Americans."

"The Trump-Musk administration's billionaire-first agenda has already
shifted the balance of power to help corporate special interests, and
away from everyday Americans—this bill would rubber-stamp unchecked
abuses of power even further," Carrk added.

Accountable.US is one of 200 civil society groups, representing
millions of Americans, that signed a letter calling on Congress to
reject the legislation.

"H.R. 1295 not only creates a fast track to dismantle these critical
entities but does so by exempting these efforts from the filibuster,
thus allowing the Senate to eliminate these agencies and their
critical functions with a simple majority. In other words, this bill
provides a fast track to the destruction of the critical entities that
ensure our families are safe, our workers have protections, our
environment is protected, and our markets are fair," wrote
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groups, which form the Coalition for Sensible Safeguards, on Monday.

"The American public expects Congress to make government work more
effectively and preserve the separation of powers," the coalition
added, "not give presidents 'carte blanche' to dismantle government
agencies and institutions."

_Julia Conley is a staff writer for Common Dreams._

* House GOP
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* empowerment
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* Elon Musk
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* Donald Trump
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