WASHINGTON, D.C. - Lawmakers expressed their admiration for President-elect Donald Trump's Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) framework during meetings on Capitol Hill with agency appointees Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy.
In November, Trump appointed Tesla CEO Musk and former presidential candidate Ramaswamy to co-lead DOGE under his administration—a new federal department aimed at reducing government waste and slashing costs.
Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa., chair of the Senate's DOGE Caucus, led a meeting with senators to unveil a 60-page cost-cutting proposal. While Ramaswamy attended the meeting, Musk met separately with incoming Senate Majority Leader Sen. John Thune of South Dakota.
"I'm very impressed with what Elon and Vivek want to accomplish," Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., stated after leaving the DOGE Caucus meeting. "I can't talk about what they are going to be proposing, but I've known them for a long time, and I think they're going to do a great job."
While specifics on where DOGE intends to cut costs were not disclosed by attending senators, they agreed that the conversation was productive.
"It showed a lot of us are on the same page," Sen. Ted Budd, R-N.C., commented regarding Thursday's discussion. "We need to make government serve people again."
Budd added that he believes Musk and Ramaswamy are "the right people for the moment" to reduce government expenses.
Sen. Roger Marshall, R-Kan., noted that DOGE is developing "hundreds of ideas" aimed at achieving a balanced budget: "It was just a great conversation," he remarked after leaving the meeting.
Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., mentioned, "We talked about a lot of things. This is the very beginning of a process that if we do it right will be ongoing."
Tillis also expressed optimism about potential Democratic support for DOGE initiatives.
Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan of Arkansas emphasized his priority in addressing costs as fixing "the regulatory burden and litigation abuse to do anything in America."
During Thursday's DOGE caucus meeting, Ernst proposed relocating Washington's workforce across the country and setting goals for federal agencies to achieve 60% daily occupancy at headquarters.