House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (N.Y.) appeared Wednesday evening to introduce Democrats to a new House subcommittee on the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), led by Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.). He scoffed at the idea. on MSNBC's “The Read Out.”
Jeffries did not rule out the possibility of Democrats joining the House subcommittee, but said the department does not consider it a “serious effort.”
“We're going to have an internal discussion,” he told host Joy Reid. “But my understanding is that Marjorie Taylor Greene is in charge of carrying out this vision. Are you kidding me? If you put Marjorie Taylor Greene in charge, this is serious business.” “This is not a major initiative,” Jeffries said.
“That speaks for itself.”
Greene will chair a subpanel of the House Oversight Committee focused on implementing the vision of DOGE, an advisory group led by Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy to reform government and reduce spending.
Jeffries will lead the Democratic opposition's efforts to address President Trump's agenda in the upcoming Congress, where both the House and Senate are controlled by Republicans.
While most Democrats have been critical of DOGE, some, such as California Rep. Ro Khanna, have said they support efforts to reduce and rein in defense spending.
“When it comes to reducing waste, fraud, and abuse and opening up the five primes to more competition, we have the Democrats.” [House Armed Services Committee] Who will work with @elonmusk and @DOGE,” Khanna said. ×a social media platform owned by Musk.
Greene is working with House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) for talks with Republican lawmakers ahead of the next legislative cycle, with the goal of cutting $2 trillion in spending that would reduce the federal budget. He shows Musk and Ramaswamy to the Capitol. The difference is almost one-third.
