- The House is going to have it’s own DOGE subcommittee chaired by Marjorie Taylor Greene.
- The Democrats on this committee aren’t DOGE-curious. They’re gearing up for a fight.
- The top Democrat says Republicans want to turn the government into a “piggy bank” for Elon Musk.
As the Department of Government Efficiency has taken shape, you may have heard about a handful of Democratic politicians who are interested in working with Elon Musk.
You won’t find any of these “DOGE-curious” Democrats, however, on the House’s new “Delivering on Government Efficiency” subcommittee.
“We believe that they’re going to use the DOGE subcommittee to eviscerate the federal workforce,” Rep. Melanie Stansbury of New Mexico, the top Democrat on the panel, said on CNN on Friday.
The subcommittee, housed beneath the House Oversight Committee, will be chaired by Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene — the controversial Georgia congresswoman who was barred from serving on committees altogether during her first two years in office.
Other Republicans on the panel include some of the party’s biggest spending hawks and members of the hardline House Freedom Caucus, including:
- Rep. Pat Fallon of Texas
- Rep. William Timmons of South Carolina
- Rep. Brandon Gill of Texas
- Rep. Brian Jack of Georgia
- Rep. Tim Burchett of Tennessee
- Rep. Eric Burlison of Missouri
- Rep. Michael Cloud of Texas
The Democrats, meanwhile, include several lawmakers who’ve cut their teeth doing battle with Republicans on the Oversight committee over the last two years, including:
- Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton of Washington, DC
- Rep. Stephen Lynch of Massachusetts
- Rep. Robert Garcia of California
- Rep. Greg Casar of Texas
- Rep. Jasmine Crockett of Texas
These Democrats have generally been critical of DOGE. Stansbury said on CNN that Republicans want to make the federal government “essentially a personal piggy bank for Elon Musk,” pointing to the billionaire businessman’s reliance on federal contracts. Casar, meanwhile, previously told BI that he expects Musk and DOGE to pursue “really awful, stupid, self-serving stuff.”
“We’re ready to fight back on day one, call out attempts to slash our social safety, and make sure we take care of working families and the middle class,” Garcia said in a statement announcing his placement on the subcommittee.
While the subcommittee is focusing on the same government-efficiency goals as Musk’s DOGE in the executive branch, it remains unclear how the two entities will interact.
Meanwhile, lawmakers are pursuing DOGE-aligned initiatives through other avenues, including via DOGE caucuses in both the House and the Senate.
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