Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., and Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, are rallying support for President-elect Donald Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, led by Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy. The bipartisan interest in DOGE underscores growing momentum for cutting federal spending and increasing accountability in government operations.
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Khanna told CNN that Democrats are open to collaborating with DOGE to eliminate waste, fraud and abuse in the defense budget. He pointed to the Pentagon’s repeated audit failures and proposed expanding competition among major defense contractors.
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“We need to address inefficiencies that hurt taxpayers and national security,” Khanna said.
On the Republican side, Ernst has pitched $2 trillion in savings through reforms such as consolidating federal office space, reducing payments to the United Nations and adjusting the composition of pennies to save production costs.
Ernst also announced the formation of a Senate DOGE Caucus to work alongside Musk and Ramaswamy.
“It’s long past time to put the federal government on a permanent diet,” Ernst said in a statement.
DOGE has also drawn support from a growing roster of private-sector leaders, including Marc Andreessen, Bill Ackman,and Travis Kalanick. These Silicon Valley and Wall Street heavyweights will assist with technical challenges such as data collection on federal employees and identifying inefficiencies.
“We are entrepreneurs, not politicians,” Musk and Ramaswamy wrote in a Wall Street Journal op-ed outlining their plans.
Critics, however, have raised concerns about the transparency and oversight of DOGE, given its reliance on private-sector volunteers rather than traditional government officials.
[Lauren]
THE DEPARTMENT OF GOVERNMENT EFFICIENCY MAY BE GETTING EVEN MORE BILLIONAIRES ON ITS TEAM WHILE A SURPRISING BIPARTISAN COLLABORATION COULD BE TAKING SHAPE IN WASHINGTON, AS DEMOCRATS AND REPUBLICANS FIND COMMON GROUND… THIS TIME ON CUTTING THE FEDERAL DEFENSE BUDGET.
CALIFORNIA CONGRESSMAN RO KHANNA SAYS DEMOCRATS ARE OPEN TO WORKING WITH PRESIDENT-ELECT DONALD TRUMP’S ‘DEPARTMENT OF GOVERNMENT EFFICIENCY,’ OR ‘DOGE,’ LED BY ELON MUSK AND VIVEK RAMASWAMY.
KHANNA TOLD CNN THAT WHILE MUSK AND RAMASWAMY WILL ONLY PROVIDE RECOMMENDATIONS… DEMOCRATS ON THE HOUSE ARMED SERVICES COMMITTEE COULD COLLABORATE WITH THEM TO MAKE CUTS TO THE DEFENSE BUDGET.
Rep. Ro Khanna. D-Calif.
“I mean the defense budget… which is nearly a trillion dollars… is dominated by five primes. There has been tremendous reporting about the waste, fraud and abuse in that budget. The pentagon hasn’t passed an audit- has failed the last six or seven audits… So if they go and say there needs to be more competition, not the monopolization of defense contractors… That’s something I think could be supported.”
MEANWHILE, ON THE REPUBLICAN SIDE, IOWA SENATOR JONI ERNST IS PITCHING AN AMBITIOUS $2 TRILLION IN POTENTIAL SAVINGS TO DOGE. IN A LETTER TO MUSK AND RAMASWAMY OBTAINED BY POLITICO, ERNST PROPOSED CONSOLIDATING UNUSED GOVERNMENT OFFICE SPACE, AUCTIONING OFF SURPLUS PROPERTIES, REDUCING PAYMENTS TO THE UNITED NATIONS, AND EVEN CHANGING THE PENNY’S COMPOSITION TO CUT COSTS.
ERNST, A STAUNCH ADVOCATE FOR FISCAL RESPONSIBILITY, ALSO ANNOUNCED THE CREATION OF A ‘SENATE DOGE CAUCUS’ TO COLLABORATE WITH THE DEPARTMENT… SAYING:
“IT IS LONG PAST TIME TO PUT THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT ON A PERMANENT DIET”… ADDING “I HOPE DOGE IS SHARPENING THEIR KNIVES BECAUSE I HAVE A STEP-BY-STEP PLAN TO CARVE UP WASTE, TRIM THE FAT, AND TURN WASHINGTON INTO A LEAN, EFFICIENT MACHINE.”
DOGE IS ALSO DRAWING ATTENTION FOR ITS GROWING ROSTER OF PRIVATE-SECTOR HEAVYWEIGHTS. BILLIONAIRES AND SILICON VALLEY ELITES LIKE VENTURE CAPITALIST MARC ANDREESSEN, HEDGE FUND MANAGER BILL ACKMAN, AND FORMER UBER CEO TRAVIS KALANICK ARE REPORTEDLY JOINING THE EFFORT. MUSK AND RAMASWAMY ARE RECRUITING WHAT THEY CALL ‘SMALL-GOVERNMENT CRUSADERS,’ INCLUDING TOP LEGAL AND TECHNICAL MINDS, TO HELP STREAMLINE FEDERAL PROGRAMS.
THESE BILLIONAIRES ARE EXPECTED TO TACKLE ISSUES LIKE DATA COLLECTION ON FEDERAL EMPLOYEES AND PROGRAM COSTS. ANDREESSEN IS SAID TO BE FOCUSED ON TALENT ACQUISITION, WHILE OTHERS… LIKE FORMER TESLA DIRECTOR ANTONIO GRACIAS… WILL WORK ON IDENTIFYING INEFFICIENCIES IN FEDERAL AGENCIES.
DOGE SUPPORTERS SAY THESE REFORMS ARE LONG OVERDUE. CRITICS, HOWEVER, QUESTION WHETHER THE INITIATIVE’S RELIANCE ON PRIVATE-SECTOR LEADERS COULD SIDELINE TRADITIONAL ACCOUNTABILITY MEASURES.
ONE THING IS CLEAR: THE DEPARTMENT OF GOVERNMENT EFFICIENCY IS HAS THE POTENTIAL TO SHAKE UP WASHINGTON.
FOR STRAIGHT ARROW NEWS… I’M LAUREN TAYLOR.
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Media Landscape
This story is a Media Miss by the right as only 21% of the coverage is from right leaning media. Learn more about this data
Left 64%
Center 14%
Right 21%
Bias Distribution
22 other sources covering this story
Total News Sources
22
Leaning Left
9
Center
2
Leaning Right
3
Last Updated
9 hours ago
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