Mariam Zuhaib/AP
Republican Joni Ernst, a senator from Iowa, is set to lead the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) caucus in the US Senate.
Ernst said on Fox News on Sunday that her goal is to make the federal establishment "squeal" through massive spending cuts.
"When I went into the United States Senate 10 years ago, my promise was to make 'em squeal. We are doing just that with the Department of Government Efficiency," Ernst said, adding that she has spent the last decade working to reduce government waste and that her office publishes a monthly memo — called the "Squeal Awards" — listing different examples of "waste, fraud, and abuse within the federal government."
She pointed to federal allocations to infrastructure projects, such as California's high-speed rail project, which has faced obstacles and delays, as examples of waste. The California high-speed rail project is over a decade behind schedule and $100 billion over budget despite receiving billions of dollars of federal funding, The Los Angeles Times reported earlier this year.
Ernst also accused federal workers of favoring remote work because they only work "maybe 10 hours a week." Business Insider has reported that return-to-office mandates do not make businesses more productive or valuable.
"I sat down with Vivek Ramaswamy this last week and provided him with a blueprint of $2 trillion of savings nearly immediately," Ernst said. "We can take all of the research that has been done in my office over the last decade and provide them a very clear blueprint for success."
The federal government's spending in the 2024 fiscal year was $6.75 trillion. Nine-tenths of the government's budget each year goes to federal programs, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. Nearly a quarter of the budget — 24%, or $1.6 trillion — goes to health insurance programs, while 21%, or $1.4 trillion, goes to Social Security. Another 13%, equal to $820 billion, of the budget is spent on defense initiatives.
Federal budget experts have expressed doubt that DOGE, which will be co-led by Elon Musk and Ramaswamy, will have the authority to make such drastic cuts. As a newly formed department under Donald Trump's second administration, it remains unclear how DOGE or the Senate caucus will function or what powers it will be granted.
Trump has said that the department will focus on reducing bureaucracy and making massive spending cuts to increase government efficiency. Musk wants to hire "small-government revolutionaries" to staff the department, and Ramaswamy said earlier this month that the non-governmental department intends to "delete" entire federal agencies.
Ernst's office announced the creation of the DOGE Senate caucus on Friday to "serve as the 'bite' to partner with the 'bark' of Trump administration's Department of Government Efficiency," according to a press release. The caucus will include Senators John Cornyn of Texas, Ted Budd of North Carolina, Mike Lee of Utah, Rick Scott of Florida, Roger Marshall of Kansas, Eric Schmitt of Missouri, and James Lankford of Oklahoma.
Representatives for Ernst declined to comment when reached by Business Insider.
