Iowa Senator Highlights Government Savings
On Thursday, Iowa Republican Senator Joni Ernst announced significant savings achieved by the government, boasting about billions of dollars cut from wasteful spending.
During her remarks, Ernst introduced Tesla CEO Elon Musk and former presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, referencing their involvement in bringing over $2 trillion in letters as part of her role as co-chair of the Bureau of Government Efficiency (DOGE), a position she took on in November 2024. She mentioned that since President Donald Trump’s inauguration on January 20, the government has managed to eliminate $15 billion in unnecessary expenditures.
“I’m proud to lead the Senate Doge Caucus in securing more than $15 billion in savings for American taxpayers,” Ernst stated. She added, “The era of bureaucrats just passing time is over. Regular folks won’t have to finance projects like Sesame Street in Iraq or the California high-speed rail anymore.”
The bulk of these savings was attributed to a $9 billion retirement initiative focused primarily on the U.S. International Development Agency and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. An additional $4 billion in savings was realized when the Trump administration withdrew federal funding from California’s high-speed rail project, which currently runs over budget at $95 billion.
On August 5, Ernst urged Transport Secretary Shawn Duffy to pull $14 billion from what she called “boondoggle” projects, referencing a July 30 report that highlighted budget overruns, some of which were over five years old.
Ernst also mentioned her work on addressing “Taxpayer-Funded Union Time” (TFUT), leading to a savings of at least $135 million for taxpayers in 2019. She cited examples of misuse, including a case where a Housing and Urban Development employee allegedly used TFUT to start a real estate business while working elsewhere.
Additionally, Ernst remarked on savings related to the teleworking of federal employees and the management of unused federal office spaces and properties.
Looking ahead, she expressed a desire to target other wasteful programs for future cuts, stating, “There’s still a lot of waste, fraud, and abuse that should be on the chopping block soon. If you can’t find waste in Washington, it’s because you didn’t bother to look!”
