Some lawmakers within the new Congressional DOGE Caucus are eyeing a crackdown on federal companies work-from-home insurance policies when Republicans take over the levers of energy in Washington DC subsequent yr.
The group’s title is an acronym for Delivering Excellent Authorities Effectivity, coinciding with the Division of Authorities Effectivity – additionally DOGE for brief – a brand new advisory panel commissioned by President-elect Trump and led by Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy.
The caucus held its first assembly on Tuesday, which lawmakers described to Fox Information Digital as largely “organizational.”
DOGE Caucus co-chair Rep. Aaron Bean, R-Fla., instructed Fox Information Digital the room was filled with lawmakers.
MIKE JOHNSON WINS REPUBLICAN SUPPORT TO BE HOUSE SPEAKER AGAIN
Trump introduced Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy can be main the Division of Authorities Effectivity (“DOGE”) on Tuesday, November 12, 2024. (Getty Photographs)
“We had 29 signal as much as come, so we met in a small convention room. Nevertheless it was packed – we had over 60 members attend,” Bean mentioned.
That included three Democrats – Reps. Steven Horsford, D-Nev., Val Hoyle, D-Ore., and the primary Democrat to hitch the DOGE Caucus, Rep. Jared Moskowitz, D-Fla.
Paperwork given to attendees and shared with Fox Information Digital inspired lawmakers to consider what sort of DOGE targets can be “worthwhile lifts,” “fast wins,” “decrease precedence,” and “low-hanging fruit” and different methods to prepare and prioritize initiatives.
Requested about what some “low-hanging fruit” for the panel can be, Bean mentioned, “Individuals going again to work.”
REP. JARED MOSKOWITZ FIRST DEMOCRAT TO JOIN CONGRESSIONAL DOGE CAUCUS
“Now we have an issue,” Bean mentioned. “[Federal workers] do a considerable amount of work at home. Which, that’s a debate – whether or not or not they’re productive working from house. But when they’re working from house, now we have between a 6 and 15% occupancy of billions of sq. foot of economic buildings that we’re spending billions on to repairs and whatnot. Will we nonetheless want that a lot house if individuals aren’t utilizing their places of work?”
That was echoed by Rep. Beth Van Duyne, R-Texas, who additionally attended the assembly.
Rep. Aaron Bean, R-Fla., co-founded a corresponding caucus within the Home (Â (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Name, Inc by way of Getty Photographs))
“, if you take out safety, you’ve bought one % of the federal authorities employees who’re getting in to work frequently, and we’re paying for 100% of all of them to have workplace house,” Van Duyne mentioned. “There’s a number of low hanging fruit. I simply hope we are able to determine what these are.”
Bean additionally dismissed accusations from critics of Musk and Ramamswamy’s DOGE push that it was a manner for Republicans to chop Social Safety and Medicare advantages
“That’s not the intent,” Bean emphasised. “It isn’t the intent [to be] reducing advantages, of both well being or [veterans] or Social Safety. However these advantages…have restricted shelf life, except we make reductions elsewhere. So the aim is to not minimize these issues, however to safeguard them.”
REPUBLICANS GIVE DETAILS FROM CLOSED-DOOR MEETINGS WITH DOGE’S MUSK, RAMASWAMY
Different lawmakers who attended mentioned they got here away enthusiastic concerning the group’s cost-cutting and effectivity targets.
“It was a very good introductory assembly of the caucus, form of difficult us all to consider our expectations and the way we might help, you already know, take concepts and transfer them in to invoice kind and work by the conventional committee course of to do this,” Rep. Nick Langworthy, R-N.Y., mentioned.
“I’ve even gotten numerous concepts from constituents…I feel it is a actually nice grassroots effort.”
Fox Information Digital previewed the DOGE Caucus’s new emblem, together with an e mail hotline for People to ship options on authorities effectivity. (Fox Information Digital)
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
Home GOP Convention Vice Chair Blake Moore, R-Utah, one other DOGE Caucus co-chair alongside Bean and Rep. Pete Classes, R-Texas, mentioned “there’s a billion and a half concepts, and we have to make it so it’s really actionable for Vivek and Elon.”
Each Bean and Moore indicated that the subsequent steps for the caucus can be to separate up into working teams concentrating on numerous features of DOGE’s mission.
The following caucus assembly is anticipated in January, Bean mentioned.
