Ron DeSantis says he would eliminate four federal agencies if elected president

Florida’s Republican governor said he would seek to abolish the departments of Education, Commerce and Energy, as well as the IRS.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said Wednesday that if he is elected president he would seek to close four federal agencies as part of an effort to reduce the size of government.

“We would do Education, we would do Commerce, we’d do Energy, and we would do IRS,” DeSantis said in an interview with Fox News’ Martha MacCallum when he was asked whether he favored closing any agencies.

“If Congress will work with me on doing that, we’ll be able to reduce the size and scope of government,” he added. “If Congress won’t go that far, I’m going to use those agencies to push back against woke ideology and against the leftism that we see creeping into all institutions of American life.”

DeSantis’ campaign didn’t immediately respond to a request for further details about his remarks.

DeSantis has sought to distinguish himself from Republican front-runner Donald Trump, in part by moving further to the right of the former president on a variety of issues. On Tuesday, he issued an unexpected veto, rejecting a criminal justice reform bill that had received substantial bipartisan support in the Republican-led state Legislature.

More