Washington — Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, who President-elect Donald Trump tapped to lead the newly coined Department of Government Efficiency or DOGE, are meeting with lawmakers Thursday as they seek to build support for the cost-cutting initiative.
House Speaker Mike Johnson is hosting Musk and Ramaswamy on Capitol Hill to discuss ideas for reform with lawmakers, after Trump announced that the Tesla CEO and entrepreneur would spearhead the effort last month. The president-elect outlined that the two men would “pave the way for my Administration to dismantle Government Bureaucracy, slash excess regulations, cut wasteful expenditures, and restructure Federal Agencies.”
Johnson said in remarks to reporters ahead of the meeting that during a “historic moment” for the country, the two men “are going to help navigate through this exciting new day,” calling them “innovators” and “forward thinkers.”
“We have long lamented the size and scope of the government, that it has grown too large,” Johnson said. “Government is too big, it does too many things and it does almost nothing well. And the taxpayers deserve better.”
The speaker outlined that Musk and Ramaswamy were first meeting for a “brainstorming session” with decision-makers in Congress, including chairs of relevant committees and the leaders of the DOGE caucuses in the House and Senate. He said that the two men were set to meet with lawmakers more broadly later in the day.
ast month, GOP Reps. Aaron Bean of Florida and Pete Sessions of Texas started the DOGE caucus in the House, while Republican Sen. Joni Ernst of Iowa launched its counterpart in the Senate. Ernst touted the effort on Fox News last week, noting that she has a decade-long track record on waste projects that she’s bringing to the initiative.
“We look forward to working with the caucus and making sure that DOGE is successful,” Ernst said.
In recent days, some Democrats have said they will join or expressed interest in the caucus as well. Rep. Jared Moskowitz, a Florida Democrat, told reporters Wednesday that he’s “not afraid of having the conversation,” saying that “staying in a safe space and not having the conversation isn’t going to help anybody.”
“I think Democrats should embrace government efficiency,” Moskowitz said, after becoming the first in his party to join the caucus. “That doesn’t mean that we’re going to start cutting services, but I think it can be more efficient.”
Sen. Elizabeth Warren, a Massachusetts Democrat, told reporters on Thursday that she’d be willing to work with Musk if he “wants to change government contracting to cut billions of dollars of waste out of the Pentagon budget.”
“We’re here to do work on behalf of the American people,” Warren said. “And if that means working with Elon Musk, I’m ready. And if it means fighting Elon Musk, I’m ready for that, too.”
Still, the DOGE initiative, with a meme-inspired acronym, has prompted operational questions, including what authority it will have to cut spending, which is authorized by Congress, and what spending it would target.
Musk and Ramawsamy outlined that they are aiming to cut $500 billion in annual spending. But around two-thirds of federal spending is mandatory, while large portions of discretionary spending goes to defense. Among the areas the two men said they intended to target for cuts are The Corporation for Public Broadcasting, International organizations that receive grants and entities like Planned Parenthood. Musk and Ramaswamy have also outlined a plan to reduce the number of federal employees.
Ramaswamy came into the Trump orbit after initially running against him in the presidential primary. Meanwhile, Musk, the world’s richest person, became a major part of Trump’s 2024 presidential campaign, even offering ahead of the election to give $1 million a day to sign his political action committee’s petition backing the Constitution. He appeared with Trump at a rally in Butler, Pennsyvlania, ahead of the election and has since been a frequent visitor to Mar-a-Lago.