Elon Musk to Meet with Republican Congressional Leaders to Discuss Budget Cuts

On November 28, 2024, according to Epoch Times, Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, Mike Johnson, announced on Wednesday, November 27 that Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy will visit Congress next Thursday, December 5, to discuss government reform issues with Republican congressional leaders.

Johnson wrote in a post on the social platform X, “Looking forward to hosting Musk and Ramaswamy on Capitol Hill next week to discuss major reform ideas to reduce regulations, streamline administration, save costs, and restore limited government principles.”

President-elect Trump has appointed Musk and Ramaswamy to lead a new external advisory committee. The committee, known as the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), aims to cut unnecessary regulations and reduce wasteful spending.

The Senate has established a corresponding core group for DOGE led by Senator Joni Ernst of Iowa. Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene will serve as chair of the Government Effectiveness (DOGE) Subcommittee within the House Oversight and Accountability Committee.

It is currently unclear whether the Democratic Party is willing to cooperate with DOGE, but Democratic Congressman Ro Khanna of California has expressed interest in working with Musk to reduce defense spending.

Khanna stated, “When it comes to cutting waste, fraud, and abuse and making the five major defense corporations face more competition, Democratic members on the House Armed Services Committee (HASC) will work with Musk and DOGE.”

The details of how DOGE will operate are still being gradually revealed. However, it appears that DOGE will provide recommendations to the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB), responsible for preparing the annual budget requests submitted by the President to Congress.

Musk and Ramaswamy have outlined a wide range of goals for DOGE, including streamlining redundant regulations, significantly reducing federal employees, and closing some federal agencies.

In a recent op-ed in The Wall Street Journal, they expressed their desire to eliminate “unauthorized spending by Congress.”

However, the vast majority of these proposals would require approval from Congress, as the House controls federal funding allocations to various agencies.

The meeting planned for next week signals that Republican congressional leaders are taking DOGE seriously. However, even with unified support from Republican leaders in Congress, some of Musk and Ramaswamy’s ideas may face challenges in implementation.

As of this Wednesday, several congressional election results are still pending. However, Johnson is expected to be re-elected as House Speaker, leading the House Republicans who hold a slim majority.

Considering that federal employees are widely distributed across all 435 congressional districts, any potential job loss for federal employees in a district may face opposition from the district’s congressional representative.