The pediatric neurosurgeon-turned-candidate told a crowd of Iowa Republicans he is “thinking very seriously” about adding “a covert division of people who look like the people in this room, who monitor what government people do.”

Carson suggested people would work harder if they suspected their coworkers of monitoring their work. “And we make it possible to fire government people!” he said to loud cheers.

Conservatives often criticize government employees as bureaucrats who live off public money and aren’t accountable to taxpayers. Still, Carson’s suggestion that such workers should spy on each other is the latest in a string of unusual — and often bizarre — ideas he’s floated that win cheers from far-right crowds and raised eyebrows from everyone else.