Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy can expect a friendly reception from Republican lawmakers when they visit Capitol Hill today, though the reality of cutting trillions from the federal budget is much harsher.
GOP lawmakers say they’re looking forward to hearing Musk’s and Ramaswamy’s ideas to streamline the government under their newly created “Department of Government Efficiency.” However, key Republicans are already saying huge savings may not be possible as Congress will have the final say on federal spending and the biggest opportunities for cuts — major entitlement programs — are politically risky.
The pair will speak with House and Senate Republicans this afternoon at a closed-door meeting. The two entrepreneurs leading the “department” — which is more akin to a think tank — don’t have any direct decision-making authority but aim to coordinate with Congress to cut spending. They’ll also have the ear of President-elect Donald Trump.
“They’re just gonna go out and find the fat, find the duplicity and find the ways that don’t make sense,” said Rep. Aaron Bean (R-Fla.), who launched the House’s DOGE Caucus along with Rep. Pete Sessions (R-Texas). “There’s great excitement, there’s a buzz on the Hill.”
Lawmakers are already aligning themselves with the pair. Bean’s caucus has become a bicameral affair, with Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) leading the creation of the Senate’s caucus. And more members plan to join, including Sen. Katie Britt (R-Ala.), the top Republican on the Senate Appropriations Homeland Security Subcommittee.
“I think it’s important to have appropriators at the table,” Britt told reporters. She said she’s asked to be in the caucus and that she hopes “that they would consider as they look and want different voices at the table.”
Even one Democrat — Rep. Jared Moskowitz (D-Fla.) — has joined the DOGE Caucus, though an invitation to today’s meeting with Musk and Ramaswamy specifically says it’s for Republican members of the House and Senate.
DOGE plans to coordinate with the Office of Management and Budget to slash government spending along with reducing the federal bureaucracy. Trump tapped William McGinley to serve as counsel to the effort on Wednesday, though it’s unclear what McGinley’s duties will entail. McGinley is a Republican election lawyer who was Trump’s initial pick for White House counsel. He was White House Cabinet secretary in Trump’s first term.
Mandatory Spending
Musk claimed on the campaign trail he could cut $2 trillion from the $6.75 trillion annual federal budget. To do that, he’d need to cut mandatory programs like Social Security or Medicare, something Trump has said he won’t do.
“If you really want to save $2 trillion, you can’t do that off the discretionary budget. It’s only $1.7 trillion and it funds defense,” House Appropriations Committee Chairman Tom Cole (R-Okla.) said Tuesday. “Do you want to get serious about entitlement spending? Because that’s where the real money’s at.”
Cole dismissed eliminating earmarks as another possible avenue to reduce government spending since he’s “not for reducing the authority of the Appropriations Committee” and “it’s not that much money” compared to other parts of the government. Earmarks are capped at 1% of discretionary spending, which is about 25% of total federal spending, each year. Congress enacted $14.6 billion in the 2024 fiscal year’s spending bills.
Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), in line to become Senate Appropriations Committee chair, also said Musk and Ramaswamy are entering a world very different from their private-sector backgrounds.
“Having two people with extensive private sector experience take a look at some of the processes in government is helpful,” Collins told reporters yesterday. “But they have to recognize that the private sector is different from government.”
Collins said she expects widespread support for a mandate to bring all federal workers back to their in-person offices five days a week.
Rep. Chuck Fleischmann (R-Tenn.), chairman of the House Appropriations Energy and Water Subcommittee, said he has the “utmost respect” for Musk and Ramaswamy but noted the two should “be mindful” it’s Congress that controls the purse strings.
“The American people want us to look at things in a very careful way,” Fleischmann said, adding “the appropriations process is the purview of” Congress.
The excitement around the group has already prompted some specific proposals, as Ernst has outlined a series of cuts in a letter to Musk and Ramaswamy. She called for reductions on federal office building leases, contributions to the United Nations, electric vehicle charging stations, research at the National Science Foundation and National Institutes of Health, and the minting of pennies and nickels.
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