Sen. James Lankford (R-Okla.) said federal employees will help with "Department of Government Efficiency" (DOGE) efforts by sharing their ideas for changes within the government
"We are reaching to federal employees. They see it firsthand. Many of these employees are frustrated as well; they are taxpayers as well. They want to see it be more efficient. We are asking them to also share their ideas with us so we can actually get this thing fixed," Lankford said on Fox News.
The comment from Lankford — a founding member of the DOGE Caucus, as reported by Fox News — comes as lawmakers have been eyeing DOGE as a vehicle for potential reforms.
The advisory panel's co-leaders, tech entrepreneurs Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, met with Capitol Hill Republicans earlier this month to discuss plans for DOGE. The two have set a lofty goal of slashing $2 trillion in spending.
Some Democrats have jumped on board, as well: Reps. Jared Moskowitz (D-Fla.) and Greg Landsman (D-Ohio) have said they will join the DOGE Caucus.
Some lawmakers on the left have even signaled they would be open to working with DOGE on the defense budget.
Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) took aim at the U.S. defense budget for potential cuts issued by DOGE in an op-ed published this week.
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) earlier this month said Musk was “right” about defense spending, because the Pentagon has “lost track of billions.”
