DOGE representatives initiate meetings with federal staff in effort to reduce government waste: report

Associates of Tesla and Space X CEO Elon Musk and tech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy are starting to interview federal government officials for the newly created Department of Government Effectiveness (DOGE), according to a new report.

DOGE representatives spoke with employees from more than a dozen federal agencies—including the Treasury Department and the Internal Revenue Service, as well as the Departments of Veterans Affairs, Homeland Security, and Health and Human Services, The Washington Post reported Friday.

Musk and Ramaswamy are leading DOGEa blue-ribbon committee separate from the federal government that deals with issues related to government spending, waste, efficiency and operations. They are expected to propose executive actions for the Trump administration and partner with the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to initiate reforms.

Overall, the committee aims to cut $2 trillion from the federal government’s budget through efforts to reduce spending, government programs and the federal workforce.

NEWEST AMERICAN GOVERNOR TAKES A PAGE FROM TRUMP WITH DOGE’S COMMISSION

However, Musk recently cast doubt on the likelihood of eliminating $2 trillion from the federal budget and said a $1 trillion cut was more likely.

“I think we’re going to try to get $2 trillion. I think that’s the best possible outcome,” Musk said during Wednesday’s CES technology show in Las Vegas, the Post reported. “But I think you have to have some kind of surplus. I think if we try $2 trillion, we have a good chance of getting $1 [trillion].”

Lawmakers on Capitol Hill have expressed support for working with DOGE, and Reps. Aaron Bean, R-Fla., and Pete Sessions, R-Texas, announced the creation of the Caucus on Achieving Extraordinary Government Effectiveness (DOGE) last year.

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT DOGE AND ITS QUEST TO REDUCE GOVERNMENT WASTE, CONSUMPTION

“Our national debt has surpassed a staggering $36 trillion and should be a wake-up call for all Americans,” Bean, co-chairman of the House DOGE Caucus, said in November. “We must take steps to avoid diving headlong off the cliff of fiscal ruin. I am thrilled that President-elect Trump has appointed Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy to lead DOGE, but taking Crazy Town will not be an easy task – they will need partners.”

Likewise, Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, is slated to oversee the Senate DOGE Caucus.

“Finally things are changing, the knives are out and the scrap is on the chopping block,” Ernst said in a November statement.

Currently, DOGE boasts a staff of approximately 50 people working out of SpaceX’s Washington, DC office, and aims to roughly double that number when President-elect Trump is sworn in on January 20, the Post reports.

A representative for Ramaswamy declined to comment to Fox News Digital.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

DOGE seems to be a source of inspiration for other similar initiatives at the state level. For example, Republican Gov. Kelly Ayotte of the swing state of New Hampshire announced the creation on Thursday Commission on Government Efficiencyknown as COGE.

“COGE will make us smarter than ever before when it comes to saving taxpayer dollars and finding better ways to serve the people of our state,” Ayotte said in her inaugural address.