U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) has issued a statement to President-elect Donald Trump's Department of Government Efficiency: blueprint Cut more than $2 trillion in wasteful government spending.
Ernst's Monday letter Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy enumerated to the co-chairs a number of ways DOGE could begin to wean the United States out of its $36 trillion debt.
“It's a bad time for waste, fraud, and abuse in Washington!”
Earlier this month, DOGE created jobs Post X is inviting applications from “ultra-high IQ small-government revolutionaries willing to work 80+ hours a week to cut costs in modest ways.”
Ernst referenced the post in a letter to the department, saying, “You want 'ultra-high IQ small-government revolutionaries' for 'low-key cost-cutting,' but all you really need is a little common sense.” If I can,” he wrote. If you can't find waste in Washington, there's only one reason: you didn't look for it. ”
She criticized politicians for acting like “Goldilocks” in their approach to reducing government waste.
“Congressmen of both parties behave like Goldilocks when faced with proposals to cut fat from Washington's budget,” Ernst said. “It's either too small or too big, always too hard, and never right. But the real “make-believe” in this fairy tale is that it's impossible to cut Washington's budget without causing pain. That's it. Most Americans don't even receive any benefits. It's a meaningful way to save hundreds of billions of dollars. ”
First, Ernst proposed saving taxpayers money by cutting government spending on vacant buildings. With many federal employees working from home rather than in offices, billions of dollars are wasted on unused or mostly empty buildings and on energy, furniture, and maintenance costs for those spaces.
Ernst highlighted President Joe Biden's “billion dollar outrage,” including spending $7.5 billion to build an electric vehicle charging network, but so far only 17 EV stations have been completed. He also noted that $42 billion has been allocated to expand broadband access, but “not a single person is connected to the internet yet.”
As Mr. Ernst put it, U.S. taxpayers have poured billions of dollars into “just three California gravy trains” and the state's high-speed rail system, which will take another decade to complete. I'm referring to former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's expensive six-mile subway system. extension and 2.1 miles of rail service extension in San Francisco. Ernst noted that the project would cost between $1.5 billion and $5.15 billion per mile.
Ernst said Washington, D.C., bureaucrats are on a buying spree during the annual “Christmas in September,” during which they splurge on excess tax dollars that expire by the end of the fiscal year on Sept. 30. criticized for being
“$53 billion was spent in a recent week in a rush to spend it before it's gone! Past September spending included $4.6 million in impulse purchases on lobster tails and crabs, and $2.1 million on games and toys. Including an impulse buy of $12,000 for a foosball table. For the sake of the taxpayers, DOGE needs to become the Grinch,” Ernst declared.
She also proposed pulling federal funding from some scientific research, saying, “Right now, we spend billions of dollars on science, but NASA is spending billions of dollars on science. We can't even bring him back to Earth.”
“The question is, what are we learning from the billions of tax dollars that Washington is spending on research and development?” Ernst asked.
She asked questions like “How fast can a shrimp run on a treadmill?'' “Does recycling make men less manly?'' “How long does it take a panda to poop?'' “A pigeon… He highlighted many studies such as “Do pigeons gamble?'' and “Do pigeons gamble?'' Do these sour cream and onion flavored potato chips look like Elvis? ”
“It may be fun to ask game show contestants these things, but the real question is why are taxpayers supporting these studies?” Ernst asked.
He also suggested that DOGE consider cutting government spending, including unemployment benefits for the wealthy, overpayments to the United Nations, defense spending, and passive bonuses for federal employees.
Ernst concluded his recommendations by noting that this is “by no means an exhaustive list” and said he plans to provide more suggestions in the near future.
Mr. Ernst will lead the newly established team. Senate DOGE Caucus.
In one letter she wrote: post In X, “We're proud to be the top watchdog in the Senate. It's a bad time for waste, fraud, and abuse in Washington!”
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