WASHINGTON, DC – Congressional Republicans are working closely with Tesla CEO Elon Musk and former presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswami, who co-lead President Trump's new spending-cutting project, the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). We plan to collaborate with
The DOGE duo toured Washington, D.C., with members of Congress on Thursday, spending the morning with members of the Senate DOGE Caucus before heading to a meeting with House Republican leaders and representatives of the House DOGE Caucus.
The two men, who will spearhead efforts to reduce government spending and strengthen government efficiency under the incoming Trump administration, ended the day by addressing a joint session with Republicans from both chambers of Congress on Capitol Hill.
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), the incoming chair of the DOGE House subcommittee, said a “naughty list” and “nice list” will be prepared for lawmakers during Musk's meetings. It was revealed that he said that.
Republican senators 'very impressed' with Musk and Ramaswamy's presidential framework during meeting on Capitol Hill
Tesla CEO Elon Musk, co-chair of the newly announced Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), arrives with his son at the Capitol in Washington, DC, on December 5, 2024. (Anna Moneymaker)
“More will be announced in the coming days,” Prime Minister Boris Johnson said at the end of the meeting. “Please look forward to future updates.”
Co-chairs of the DOGE House Caucus said there was a “huge discussion” about education and civil service redundancies during Musk's meeting with Ramaswamy.
“There's too much waste, fraud, and abuse. There's too much inefficiency. Where do we start?” said Rep. Aaron Bean (R-Fla.), co-chair of the DOGE caucus.
He suggested there were already “low-hanging fruit” on improving government efficiency that Republicans could agree on, such as education and federal workforce issues.
“There was a big debate about education. There was also a big debate about government redundancies that exist in programs across the country. This was not a 'pick and choose programs and get buy-in.' It was a forum of ideas,” said co-chair Rep. Pete Sessions (R-Texas).
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On Thursday, December 5, 2024, Vivek Ramaswamy, Chairman and Co-Founder of Strive Asset Management (The Center), arrived at the Capitol in Washington, DC to meet with members of Congress. (Al Drago)
Sessions also highlighted how the DOGE deadline, which is expected to end by July 4, 2026, the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, will help ensure government efficiency.
“We're going to disembowel the fish,” Rep. Troy Neals (R-Texas) told reporters after leaving the meeting.
But Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas) was skeptical about relying on the new department to cut costs.
“It's a bit extravagant to say, 'Oh, DOGE, please save us. What, from us?'” Roy told reporters. “What I told them is that their biggest role is to expose the absolute stupidity that comes out of this body.”
President-elect Donald Trump has named Elon Musk to co-lead DOGE next year. (Brandon Bell)
But Republican Rep. Mike Halidoropos of Florida argued that it's good to have an outsider's eye on how the federal government operates.
“The low-hanging fruit, and one of the things we have to do across the board, is to finally pass a balanced budget amendment,” he said of how Congress can help reduce waste. That's true.'' “I think the second thing is that people have to go to work. All other Americans aren't going to work and aren't getting paid. So public servants need to go to work. .”
Ahead of his meeting with Congress, Musk was asked if he wanted Democratic lawmakers to participate in the DOGE dialogue, and he said, “Yes.”
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Musk met with incoming Senate Majority Leader John Thune on Thursday morning, while Ramaswamy met with the Senate DOGE caucus and heard from its chair, Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), who It unveiled a 60-page proposal for potential spending cuts.
