Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, who is set to lead the upper chamber's new Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) caucus, sent a letter to Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy pitching more than $2 trillion in proposed cuts and savings.
Ramaswamy and Musk were recently selected by President-elect Donald Trump to lead DOGE, a nongovernmental commission to dismantle government bureaucracy and cut costs.
"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, reported Politico.
Among her ideas for "trimming the fat and reducing red ink," Ernst said pitched consolidating government office space and auctioning off unused space, changing the composition of the penny, and curbing payments to the United Nations.
Ernst told Politico 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 said.
Solange Reyner ✉
Solange Reyner is a writer and editor for Newsmax. She has more than 15 years in the journalism industry reporting and covering news, sports and politics.
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