“Mass firings are absolutely what I’m bringing to the D.C. bureaucracy,” the Republican told a Fort Dodge audience late Tuesday morning.

He outlined his plans for thinning out the bureaucracy, which he referred to as the deep state, for about 35 people gathered at Shiny Top Brewing, 520 Central Ave.

Ramaswamy said he will reduce the bureaucracy by 75 percent if he is elected.

He added that he will eliminate the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Department of Education.

“We will get in there and shut them down,” he said.

The candidate said he has the “sharp elbows” and a deep understanding of laws and the Constitution that will enable him to get that done. He said he would not need the approval of Congress to take those actions, because they all are within the power of the executive branch of government.

“We’re going to get the executive branch in order,” he said. “That’s where the deep state resides.”

Ramaswamy said he would eliminate the current civil service system and impose an eight-year term limit on appointed federal officials.

During his remarks Tuesday, the candidate also pledged to:

• End affirmative action and racial quotas, which he described as “a cancer on our national soul.”

• Use the military to defend the northern and southern borders

• Pardon “peaceful J6 protesters”

• End birthright citizenship for children of illegal immigrants

• “Bring our oil and gas out of the ground and sell it.”

Ramaswamy described the nation’s current political situation in stark terms.

“We’re in the middle of a war in this country,” he said. “I don’t use that word lightly. It’s not a war between black and white. It’s not even a war between Democrats and Republicans.

“It’s a war between those of us who love the United States of America and our founding ideals, who believe that all men are created equal, who believe that you get ahead in this country based on the content of your character, not the color of your skin,” he added. “And then on the other side of this war we have this extreme minority who believes your identity is based on your race, gender and sexuality, who believe we cannot burn carbon but at the same time shift that carbon to China and other places in the world, who believe in using our military to protect other countries’ borders but to use it to protect our borders is xenophobic and racist.”