Rep. Tim Burchett (R-Tenn.) said the proposed “Department of Government Efficiency” (DOGE) will be a “waste of time” unless Congress acts on the “things that they're talking real big about.”
“The key to the whole thing is in that room. If Congress doesn't have the guts to do those things that they're talking real big about. It's just gonna — it's just a waste of time,” Burchett said in a video posted Thursday on the social platform X.
"They'll do away with executive orders and unelected bureaucrats who put rules and regulations on us. If Congress doesn't have the guts. And that's what scares me," the Tennessee Republican added after leaving the Thursday meeting House lawmakers had with DOGE co-leaders Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy on Capitol Hill.
During the Thursday session with Republican lawmakers in Congress, the two tech entrepreneurs did not have a clear answer for how feasible it would be to cut $2 trillion in spending, according to a GOP member.
Some alluded to the tight majority that Republicans have in the lower chamber and with the filibuster in the Senate.
Rep. Max Miller (R-Ohio) characterized the huddle as a “listening session.”
“Probably half of them in there are really excited, and the other half know reality,” Miller said, referencing those who attended.
“It’s just ‘getting to know you’ and trying to understand the full scope of what they’re going to propose, how much would be done by executive action,” Rep. Tom Cole (R-Okla.), chair of the House Appropriations Committee, told The Hill. “It’s a very preliminary discussion.”
Musk and Ramaswamy also met with recently elected Senate Republican Leader John Thune (S.D.) and House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.), with whom they discussed how to cut back on spending.
“I vote against a lot of stuff. There'll be 15 or so red dots on the board, which means we voted against horrible spending,” Burchett said. “And there'll be about 400 green lights on the board, and that's going to be the problem.”
Some Democrats have expressed interest in working with the initiative's leaders and their ideas.
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) commended Musk as a "very smart guy," adding that "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."
Another progressive, Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.), said on X that he is “ready to work” with DOGE, particularly “to slash waste,” referencing defense spending.
Democratic Reps. Greg Landsman (Ohio) and Jared Moskowitz (Fla.), said they will join the Congressional Delivering Outstanding Government Efficiency Caucus.
Not all Democrats are sold on DOGE, which was created to “slash wasteful spending.”
“You know, they haven’t asked to meet with me, but the impoundment of funds that have been appropriated by the Congress is unconstitutional and illegal,” Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.) said Thursday on CNN.
“There is no such ‘Department of Government Efficiency.’ It’s made up. So good luck to ’em,” she said.
