2024 presidential candidates on the administrative state

2024 presidential candidates on the issues

Kamala Harris and Donald Trump, 2020-2024 • Abortion • Administrative state • Department of Justice and Federal Bureau of Investigation • Coronavirus response • Criminal justice • Policing • Trump indictments • Courts • Economy • Social Security • Taxes • Inflation • Job creation • Education • Charter schools and voucher programs • School curriculums and parental involvement • College affordability • Election policy • Energy and environmental issues • Climate change • Energy production • Environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) • Federalism • Foreign policy • China (foreign policy) • Russia • Russia-Ukraine War • Middle East and North Africa • South and Central America • Israel-Hamas War • Israel-Palestine conflict • Government ethics • Gun regulation • Healthcare • Medicare • Sex and gender issues • Transgender healthcare • Immigration • Border security • Immigration enforcement • Impeachment • Infrastructure • Opioids and drug issues • Trade • China (trade) • Veterans

Presidential election
Presidential candidates
Republican nomination

Democratic nomination

This page includes statements from the 2024 presidential candidates on the administrative state. These statements were compiled from each candidate's official campaign website, editorials, speeches, and debates.

The candidates featured on this page were the noteworthy Democratic and Republican candidates in the 2024 presidential election. Only candidates who addressed this page's issue on their campaign website, in public statements, or in public speeches have a quote featured on this page. See something we missed? Email us. The active noteworthy presidential candidates as of November 5, 2025, were:

Kamala Harris (D)
Donald Trump (R)
Chase Oliver (L)
Jill Stein (G)

Administrative state

Republican candidates

Ron DeSantis

In an op-ed DeSantis wrote, "I will use all available constitutional authority to restore accountability in the executive branch, move agencies out of Washington, D.C., and slash the bureaucratic state, restrict foreign lobbying and post-employment revolving doors by former government officials, and ban individual stock trading by members of Congress and executive branch officials." ^{[source, as of 2023-08-07]}

Nikki Haley

In a speech Haley said, "Under my plan, we won’t just have term limits for politicians. We will limit bureaucrats too. No bureaucrat should hold the same position for more than five years. This will make them better public servants and avoid the politics and power fiefdoms that corrupt our government. And we should be able to fire those who are not performing. Public service is a privilege, not a right. And no one has a right to roll back your freedom. I’ll force Congress to vote on every rule and regulation, period. When politicians have to vote on every price-hiking, job-destroying, family-crushing mandate, you can bet we’ll see a lot fewer rules coming down. And we’ll reduce the size of the federal government by pushing programs and authority back to the states. I’m talking welfare, health care, education, infrastructure." ^{[source, as of 2023-09-22]}

Asa Hutchinson

Hutchinson listed the following policy on his campaign website, "Institute an immediate hiring freeze for non-defense federal workers as the first step in our mission to reduce federal government workforce by at least 200,000 jobs, achieving a 10% reduction." ^{[source, as of 2023-12-21]}

Vivek Ramaswamy

Ramaswamy's campaign website listed the following policies, "Shut down toxic government agencies: Dept of Education, FBI, IRS, and more (and rebuild from scratch when required). End civil service protections for bureaucrats: 8-year term limits instead. Eliminate federal employee unions: repeal JFK’s executive order 10988. Move >75% of federal employees out of Washington D.C. & end pro-lazy 'remote work' option. Cut wasteful expenditures: White House, not individual agencies, will submit budget requests to Congress." ^{[source, as of 2023-12-21]}

Donald Trump

Trump's campaign website listed the following policies, "On Day One, re-issue 2020 executive order restoring the president’s authority to fire rogue bureaucrats. Overhaul federal departments and agencies, firing all of the corrupt actors in our National Security and Intelligence apparatus. [...] Launch a major crackdown on government leakers who collude with the media to create false narratives, pressing criminal charges when appropriate. Make every Inspector General’s Office independent from the departments they oversee, so that they do not become protectors of the deep state." Trump's campaign website also listed, "Continue Trump administration effort to move parts of the federal bureaucracy outside of the Washington Swamp, just like President Trump moved the Bureau of Land Management to Colorado. Up to 100,000 government positions could be moved out of Washington. Ban federal bureaucrats from taking jobs at the companies they deal with and regulate, such as Big Pharma." ^{[source, as of 2023-12-21]}