Republicans have big plans for spending cuts next year, but some Republican lawmakers doubt whether Congress can muster the momentum for significant changes.
Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, who were appointed by President-elect Trump to lead the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), an advisory panel for reducing spending and the national debt, were on Capitol Hill Thursday for a series of meetings with lawmakers on how Congress and the White House can work together to achieve that goal.
And while that advisory panel focuses primarily on executive actions Trump might take, lawmakers concede that significant, lasting changes must be achieved through legislation. And some Republicans are skeptical about their feasibility.
“The problem is in that room,” said Rep. Tim Burchett, R-Tenn., referring to other Republican lawmakers who met with Musk and Ramaswamy.
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Trump announced on November 12, 2024 that Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy would lead the Department of Government Efficiency. (Getty Images)
“These guys, you know, they talk really tough,” but they didn’t vote in a way that he said showed they were serious about cutting spending.
“You don’t see much of that. When is that going to start? Is it going to start just because Elon and Vivek (approach us)?” Burchett asked. ‘I’m just afraid we’re losing steam. … We have to be bold, and people have to hold us accountable.”
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Outgoing Rep. Dan Bishop, R-N.C., told Fox News that “a lot of members” stood up to suggest ways to “save money” during Thursday afternoon’s brainstorming session with Republicans and the DOGE duo.
“You would think that more of them would have been willing to vote, cast votes in the House of Representatives to do those things early,” Bishop added.
The DOGE discussions have opened long-standing wounds within the Republican Party, whose members spent a significant portion of the 118th Congress battling each other over how to handle government funding and other budget issues.
The national debt recently surpassed $36 trillion.
Rep. Chip Roy questioned whether fellow Republicans have the “backbone” to pass the spending overhauls. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
A senior Republican Party aide expressed optimism about the new goal, but added that Musk and Ramaswamy were “swinging for the fences.”
“The hard part is once they find the things to cut, I think it’s Congress that has to do the actual cutting, right?” said the assistant.
Another senior GOP aide said, “DOGE’s mission is worthy and absolutely necessary, but nothing is going to change. We are not going to make cuts as we (must) do to get our budget house in order, and we are not going to reduce waste at any significant level.”
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Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, also skeptical, told Republicans at Thursday’s meeting that they needed to “grow a backbone” to actually make meaningful cuts.
“I said to my colleagues, ‘If you couldn’t print money, if it were literally banned today, what would you do?’ You would do what you do for your home budget. You would say, ‘Well, we can’t go on vacation here. I can’t buy a nice new car because I need a brace for my kid,'” Roy told WMAL radio host Larry O. “Connor.
“We never do that, and until we do, all the DOGE waste management in the world won’t help. We have to do both. We need to reduce waste, but we need Congress to do it. grow a backbone.”
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President-elect Trump tapped Musk and Ramaswamy to lead DOGE. (Brandon Bell)
Some Republicans are skeptical about Musk and Ramaswamy being in charge.
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“They had no game plan — a wish list that they give to Santa Claus and the American people that will never be even remotely accomplished,” one Republican lawmaker, granted anonymity to speak freely, told Fox News Digital about Thursday’s meeting.
The Republican lawmaker called DOGE a “magical department created out of thin air” and pointed out that the logo was heavily inspired by a cryptocurrency known as “dogecoin” that Musk has backed.
“They are We will hit a wall called ‘members of Congress who know how to do our jobs,’” the lawmaker said.
