WASHINGTON ― Home Oversight Committee chair James Comer (R-Ky.) introduced Thursday that Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) will chair a brand new subcommittee named after an web meme from the early 2010s.
President-elect Donald Trump tapped entrepreneurs Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy to move an advisory panel referred to as the “Department of Government Efficiency,” or DOGE, that’s tasked with figuring out trillions in authorities waste.
Not eager to be not noted, Republicans on Capitol Hill this week created a caucus (a casual group of lawmakers with shared pursuits) referred to as Delivering Excellent Authorities Effectivity, and now an official subcommittee, named Delivering on Authorities Effectivity.
“A lot of what DOGE is trying to do would fall under the legislative jurisdiction and the Oversight Committee,” Comer mentioned Thursday in an interview with right-wing influencer Benny Johnson.
The acronym DOGE (pronounced “dodje”) refers to a once-popular picture macro that includes a Shiba Inu canine with excerpts of its interior monologue represented by superimposed textual content. Right here’s a DOGE meme for the brand new subcommittee, courtesy of HuffPost:
“I’m excited to chair this new subcommittee designed to work hand in hand with President Trump, Elon Musk, Vivek Ramaswamy and the entire DOGE team,” Greene informed Fox Information Digital, which first reported the brand new committee.
Musk has mentioned he may simply lower at the very least $2 trillion out of the $6.5 trillion federal price range, which is a particularly unrealistic aim, particularly if DOGE doesn’t contact Social Safety, Medicare or packages for veterans.
Regardless of having the phrase “department” in its identify, Musk’s DOGE initiative shouldn’t be an official federal company, and is extra just like the sort of ineffectual blue-ribbon fee that policymakers have usually established after they can’t determine clear up a posh coverage downside.
It’s presupposed to be as much as Congress to determine how the federal government spends cash, however Musk and Ramaswamy claimed this week they’d pioneer new constitutional authorities for Trump to make their cuts with out giving Congress a say.
(Editor’s word: Ramaswamy holds shares in BuzzFeed, HuffPost’s mother or father firm.)
The lawmakers getting in on the DOGE motion appear to need to make frequent trigger with Musk and Ramaswamy whereas reminding the duo who’s truly in control of spending.
“It takes an act of Congress to do some of the things that they want [done]. If we’re going to cut anybody, or if we’re going to make changes, then Congress has to act,” Rep. Aaron Bean (R-Fla.), co-founder of the brand new DOGE caucus, informed HuffPost.
“We’re the good government committee that tries to root out waste, fraud, abuse and mismanagement in the federal government,” Comer mentioned. “So everything that musk and and Ramaswamy are talking about pretty much falls under the House Oversight Committee.”
Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), the highest Democrat on the committee, mocked the brand new DOGE subcommittee in a press release.
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“It’s hard to keep track of all the new departments and bureaucracies the Republicans are setting up to study the size and efficiency of government,” Raskin mentioned. “So now a noted student of American government, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, will chair a subcommittee to work with two unvetted billionaires who stand to receive billions more in government contracts and subsidies from the government under Trump.”
