By Alexis Simendinger & Kristina Karisch | The Hill
It’s charm offensive time on Capitol Hill.
In a quest to convince lawmakers of their plans to radically transform the federal government and cut costs, businessmen Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy met with Republican lawmakers in both chambers Thursday. But they had few good answers for how the new “Department of Government Efficiency” (DOGE) will meet its lofty goals of slashing $2 trillion in spending during a buzzy meeting with GOP lawmakers.
Musk and Ramaswamy, who were appointed by President-elect Trump to lead the efficiency panel, heard plenty of suggestions about how to cut spending and government waste — including some ideas that have circulated among conservatives for years. But The Hill’s Emily Brooks and Miranda Nazzarro report some members left the meeting highly skeptical that Musk and Ramaswamy will be able to get anything approximating $2 trillion in spending cuts through Congress.
“These guys are going to get their eyes open,” said one Republican lawmaker, pointing to the razor-thin majority in the House and the problem of the filibuster in the Senate.
The GOP will have a 219-215 House majority in January because of former Rep. Matt Gaetz’s (R-Fla.) decision to leave Congress after his brief nomination as attorney general. But that margin will shrink to 217-215 when two other Republicans leave for Trump administration posts.
“They’re gonna offer a lot of solutions that are gonna roll off the tongue real easy, but look at the margins,” the member said of Musk and Ramaswamy. “They’re just not gonna have the horsepower.”
▪ The Hill: Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) unveiled her “DOGE Acts” to cut spending and freeze federal hiring, as well as salaries.
▪ The Hill: Rep. Tim Burchett (R-Tenn.) said DOGE will be a “waste of time” unless Congress acts on the “things that they’re talking real big about.”
▪ The Hill: Before addressing lawmakers, Musk met with incoming Senate Majority Leader John Thune (S.D.).
▪ NBC News: Musk spent a quarter-billion dollars electing Trump, according to new campaign reports.
Across the aisle, DOGE has been met with varying degrees of skepticism. Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.) told CNN on Thursday that the efficiency advisory team, which dubs itself a “department” is “illegal and unconstitutional.” It is not a federal agency, department or congressionally approved commission, but rather a Trump-designated advisory group.
Meanwhile, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) called Musk a “smart guy” and Department of Health and Human Services nominee Robert F. Kennedy Jr. — a prominent vaccine skeptic — “right” about America’s “unhealthy society.” Sanders told Business Insider that many things Musk did during Trump’s campaign were “really ugly,” but he is a “very smart guy” who is right to call for an independent audit of the Defense Department.
“We need a strong military, but we don’t need all the waste and profiteering and the fraud that exists in the Pentagon right now,” Sanders said.
▪ Politico: The Education Department, the agency Trump wants to eliminate, also has the power to enact his biggest campaign promises.
▪ The Washington Post: Trump wants to move federal jobs out of D.C. Here’s what happened the last time.
Meanwhile, Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) is wooing his sharpest critics in the House GOP ahead of his official election for Speaker on the House floor, working to eliminate opposition and secure the strongest leadership mandate possible in a razor-thin majority. In the latest development, Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) — one of the leaders of a move to oust Johnson earlier this year — is no longer ruling out supporting Johnson for Speaker, The Hill’s Emily Brooks reports. The two chatted over the Thanksgiving break and have been having conversations that appear to be leaving a positive impression on Massie.
Massie cautioned that he is “not to the support levels yet.” But his openness to voting for Johnson is a major development, given his prior opposition. Earlier this year, Massie had said he would not vote for Johnson “come hell or high water.”
Massie’s softening on Johnson comes as the Speaker has also secured the backing of his most vocal former critic, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.). There is little appetite among Republicans to show any fractures as the party is set to take trifecta control of government, in a boon for Johnson. Trump has also publicly supported the Speaker.
Still, nothing is certain.
“I think there’s so much stuff up in the air, nobody’s going to know until January 3,” Massie said.
