Ernst pitches DOGE on spending cuts and savings

Sen. Joni Ernst is pitching President-elect Donald Trump’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency on more than $2 trillion proposed cuts or savings— the latest example of GOP lawmakers embracing the commission.

Ernst (R-Iowa) sent a letter on Monday to Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, who Trump tapped to lead the out-of-government panel tasked with coordinating with the White House and Office of Management and Budget.

“Thank you for stepping up to take on the challenge of saving taxpayers from Washington’s out- of-control spending that put our nation $36 trillion in debt. Your mission could not be more urgent, and there’s no team better suited to lead the effort,” Ernst wrote in the letter, a copy of which was obtained by POLITICO.

Ernst added that, “to give you a head start,” she was pitching “ideas for trimming the fat and reducing red ink.” Among the ideas being pitched by Ernst: consolidating government office space and auctioning off unused space, changing the composition of the penny and curbing payments to the United Nations.

The letter comes after she met late last week with Ramaswamy at Mar-a-Lago and discussed her ideas to curb spending. Ernst also announced last week that she would start the Senate DOGE Caucus to work with Musk and Ramaswamy.

In a statement to POLITICO, Ernst said, “It is long past time to put the federal government on a permanent diet.”

“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,” she added.

It’s the latest example of lawmakers embracing Trump’s decision to start DOGE, which he said in an announcement would “provide advice and guidance from outside of Government” to help “drive large scale structural reform, and create an entrepreneurial approach to Government never seen before." Musk and Ramaswamy added in a Wall Street Journal op-ed that they would “serve as outside volunteers, not federal officials or employees.”

In addition to the Senate caucus, House Oversight Chair James Comer (R-Ky.) will create a new subcommittee led by Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) to help coordinate with DOGE. The position comes after Greene met earlier this month with Speaker Mike Johnson to discuss her role within the conference.