DeSantis says if elected he would abolish education, energy and IRS departments to fight ‘woke ideology’

The Florida governor is trailing former president Donald Trump by wide margins in Republican primary polls

Gov Ron DeSantis of Florida said in an interview on Fox News on Wednesday morning that he supports eliminating multiple federal government agencies including the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).

Mr DeSantis, who has struggled to gain traction since launching his presidential campaign in the spring, didn’t hestitate when the network’s Martha MacCallum asked him if he is in favour of eliminating any government agencies.

“So we would do Education, we would do Commerce, we would do Energy, and we would do the IRS,” Mr DeSantis said. “And so if Congress will work with me on doing that, we will be able to reduce the size and scope of government.”

A number of Republican presidential candidates over the years have said they would like to eliminate various federal agencies, without any success. As Mr DeSantis indicated, it is Congress that establishes departments and agencies and Congress that would have to vote to eliminate them.

But Mr DeSantis said that if Congress doesn’t allow him to cut agencies like the IRS — a move that could plunge the country’s tax collection system into chaos and hamper federal oversight — he is prepared to use those agencies to advance his political aims.

“What I’m also going to do, Martha, is be prepared, 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,” Mr DeSantis said.

Mr DeSantis, who talks frequently about “woke ideology” on the campaign trail, pointed to his record in Florida as an example of how he would like to use federal agencies as president.

“For instance, with the Department of Education, we reversed all the transgender sports stuff — women’s sports should be protected,” Mr DeSantis said. “We reversed policies trying to inject the curriculum into our schools. That will all be gone. We will make sure we have an accreditation system for higher ed, which is not trying to foment more things like DEI and CRT. So we will be prepared to do both. Either way, it will be a win for conservatives.”

Under Mr DeSantis’ leadership, Florida has curtailed free speech in schools, radically changed its tenure system, and passed abortion and gender-affirming care bans. Mr DeSantis himself has sparred with Disney over its social stances and endorsed violence against immigrants.

All that has not made Mr DeSantis a particularly popular national figure. An average of recent polls from FiveThirtyEight shows that just over 36 per cent of Americans view Mr DeSantis favourably, while more than 45 per cent view him unfavourably. He’s currently trailing former President Donald Trump by a wide margin in the Republican primary race.