Iowa Republican Sen. Joni Ernst will lead the new DOGE caucus in the U.S. Senate. She said on Fox News Sunday that her goal was to make federal agencies “scream.” It remains unclear how the new Ministry of Government Efficiency will function. And the Senate caucus will work.
Republican Sen. Joni Ernst of Iowa will lead the U.S. Senate Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) caucus.
Ernst said Sunday on Fox News that the goal is to make federal officials “scream” through massive spending cuts.
“When I became a U.S. senator 10 years ago, my promise was to make them scream, and we are doing just that at the Department of Government Efficiency,” Ernst said. She added that her office, which has been working to cut government for the past decade, publishes a monthly memo called the “Squeal Award” that lists various examples of “waste, fraud, and abuse within the federal government.” That’s what it means.
As an example of waste, he cited federal allocations for infrastructure projects, such as California’s high-speed rail project, which have faced roadblocks and delays. California’s high-speed rail project is more than a decade behind schedule and $100 billion over budget, despite receiving billions of dollars in federal funding, the Los Angeles Times reported earlier this year. reported.
Ernst also accused federal employees of favoring remote work because they only work “probably 10 hours a week.” Business Insider reports that a return-to-office mandate won’t increase productivity or value for companies.
“I spoke with Vivek Ramaswamy last week and almost immediately provided a blueprint for $2 trillion in savings,” Ernst said. “By leveraging all the research done in my office over the past 10 years, I can provide you with a very clear blueprint for success.”
Federal government spending in fiscal year 2024 was $6.75 trillion. According to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, nine-tenths of the government’s budget each year goes to federal programs. Almost a quarter of the budget (24%, or $1.6 trillion) will go to health insurance programs, and 21%, or $1.4 trillion, will go to Social Security. Another 13% of the budget, equivalent to $820 billion, will be spent on defense initiatives.
Federal budget experts have expressed doubts that DOGE, co-led by Elon Musk and Ramaswamy, has the authority to make such deep cuts. As new departments created under President Donald Trump’s second administration, it remains unclear how DOGE and the Senate’s caucus will function and what powers they will have.
President Trump said the department will focus on reducing bureaucracy and making major spending cuts to improve government efficiency. Mr. Musk wants to hire “small government revolutionaries” to staff the department, and Mr. Ramaswamy said earlier this month that the non-governmental department intends to “eliminate” entire federal agencies.
Ernst’s office announced Friday the creation of the DOGE Senate Caucus to “serve as a ‘bite’ to partner with the Trump administration’s Department of Government Efficiency ‘skin,'” according to a press release. The caucuses include John Cornyn of Texas, Ted Budd of North Carolina, Mike Lee of Utah, Rick Scott of Florida, Roger Marshall of Kansas, Eric Schmidt of Missouri and James of Oklahoma. -Senator Lankford will participate.
A representative for Ernst declined to comment when contacted by Business Insider.
