Aides for Tesla and Space
DOGE representatives met with staffers from more than a dozen federal agencies – including the Treasury Department and the Internal Revenue Service, as well as the Departments of Veterans Affairs, Homeland Security, and Health and Human Services. The Washington Post reports this Friday.
Musk and Ramaswamy lead DOGEa blue-ribbon committee separate from the federal government that aims to address issues related to government spending, waste, efficiency and operations. They are expected to propose executive actions for the Trump administration and work with the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to initiate reforms.
All told, the commission aims to save $2 trillion from the federal government budget through efforts to reduce spending, government programs and the federal workforce.
AMERICA’S NEWEST GOVERNOR TAKES PAGE FROM TRUMP WITH DOGE-LIKE COMMISSION
President-elect Trump announced that Elon Musk, left, and Vivek Ramaswamy, right, would lead the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) on November 12, 2024. (Getty Images)
However, Musk recently cast doubt on the likelihood of cutting $2 trillion from the federal budget, saying there was a better opportunity to cut $1 trillion.
“I think we’ll try for $2 trillion. I think this is the best outcome,” Musk said Wednesday at the CES technology fair in Las Vegas, the Post reported. “But I do think you have to have a little bit of surplus. I think if we try for $2 trillion, we have a good chance of getting $1 (trillion).”
Lawmakers on Capitol Hill have expressed support for working with DOGE, and Reps. Aaron Bean, R-Fla., and Pete Sessions, R-Texas, last year announced the creation of the Delivering Outstanding Government Efficiency (DOGE) Caucus.
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT DOGE AND HER QUEST TO CLOSE GOVERNMENT WASTE AND SPENDING
“Our national debt has surpassed a staggering $36 trillion and should be a wake-up call to all Americans,” House DOGE Caucus co-chair Bean said in a statement in November. “We must take action to avoid falling headlong into the abyss of budget ruin. I am thrilled with President-elect Trump’s appointment of Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy to lead DOGE, but taking on Crazy Town will not be an easy task – they will partner.”
Likewise, Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, will oversee the Senate DOGE Caucus.
“The wheels are finally turning, the blades are out and there is trash on the chopping block,” Ernst said in a November statement.
Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, speaks to reporters after Senate Republicans’ weekly policy lunch on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, on March 6, 2024. (Reuters/Bonnie Cash)
Currently, DOGE has a workforce of about 50 people working out of SpaceX’s offices in Washington, D.C., and it aims to roughly double that number when President-elect Trump is sworn in on Jan. 20, according to the Post.
A representative for Ramaswamy declined to comment to Fox News Digital.
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DOGE appears to be the inspiration for other similar initiatives at the state level. For example, Republican Governor Kelly Ayotte of the swing state of New Hampshire announced the establishment of the Commission on Government Efficiencyknown as COGE.
“COGE will make us smarter than ever before when it comes to saving taxpayer dollars and finding better ways to serve the people of our state,” Ayotte said in her inaugural address.
