DOGE caucus plans for biggest impact, eyeing key tools to expedite cutting waste

FIRST ON FOX: At the second Senate Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) caucus meeting, Chairwoman Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, led discussions on how they can most effectively and quickly begin cutting waste across the government. 

The new 18-member caucus convened on Thursday morning and strategized on how to avoid some of the pitfalls other similar efforts have run into. 

“The Senate DOGE Caucus is hitting the ground running on day one of the Trump administration to downsize government,” Ernst told Fox News Digital in a statement. “Biden’s bloat has created a target-rich environment for finding ways to eliminate waste and make the bureaucracy accountable to the people. Now is the time for results, and after today, I feel confident that we have plans in place to serve as the action arm in Congress to deliver for taxpayers.”

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Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, is chairwoman of the DOGE caucus. (Reuters)

For years, Ernst has been taking inventory of government waste, which has given the caucus a list of places to begin eliminating excess bureaucracy and making the government run more efficiently. 

Some specific targets for the caucus are federal telework, IRS agents with unpaid taxes and U.S. funding going to foreign laboratories with little accountability. 

Caucus members mapped out how they can address these items in a way that ensures they can get “multiple bites at the apple,” per Ernst’s office. 

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Ernst audited the IRS herself. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

To do this, the Republican members plan on taking advantage of tools such as the Congressional Review Act (CRA), which can be used to overturn rules put in place by federal agencies, and budget reconciliation. 

The budget reconciliation process is already expected as a key vehicle for Republican tax and immigration policy objectives, and the party has further signaled it could pass two reconciliation bills this year. One senator even suggested they could do three such bills during the 119th Congress. 

The benefit of passing legislation through budget reconciliation is that it requires a simple majority and is not subject to the 60-vote threshold of the legislative filibuster. The CRA is similarly not beholden to the filibuster. 

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Republicans are planning to hit the ground running with their new majorities. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

The caucus is also planning to work with President-elect Trump on executive orders aimed at government waste. 

The 18 members of the caucus serve on a number of different Senate committees, giving them a well-rounded idea of where the most waste exists. 

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President-elect Trump tapped Elon Musk, left, and Vivek Ramaswamy, right, to lead DOGE. (Getty Images)

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Last year, Ernst took the opportunity to lay out a plan that cuts $2 trillion of what she says is waste. In it, she recommends selling empty government buildings, auditing the IRS and firing agents that owe taxes, and slashing seemingly random or “silly” studies conducted by the government, among other things. 

DOGE was previously announced by Trump, who tapped billionaire Elon Musk and former presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy to lead the new advisory board looking to cut government waste.