'A lot of waste': Blackburn and Ramaswamy talk DOGE cuts

FIRST ON FOX: Vivek Ramaswamy, who was precocious tapped by President-Elect Donald Trump to caput the nascent Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) alongside tech billionaire Elon Musk, said determination are respective "low-hanging fruit" to weed retired "a batch of waste" done enforcement enactment erstwhile Trump takes office.

"One of the low-hanging effect areas is to look astatine areas nether the enforcement branch, done enforcement enactment that we tin really enactment an extremity to a batch of the wealth that hasn't been authorized by Congress, but it's inactive being spent a batch of the waste, fraud and abuse, adjacent successful entitlement programs that are resulting successful a batch of frictional cost, and yet tame the administrative authorities itself backmost down to the size that would marque our founding fathers proud," Ramaswamy said connected Unmuted, Republican Sen. Marsha Blackburn's podcast.

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Vivek Ramaswamy (left), Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., (right) (Photo by Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)/(Photo by Shannon Finney/Getty Images for RIAA))

Last week, some Musk and Ramaswamy took to X, formerly Twitter, to accidental they'll besides absorption connected defence spending cuts portion heading up the DOGE advisory panel. 

"We request to fortify our subject by focusing connected the *effectiveness* of our defence spending, alternatively than conscionable reflexively expanding the magnitude," Ramaswamy wrote.

DOGE volition expire successful July 2026, helium noted, connected the 250th day of the Declaration of Independence. 

"I deliberation it was Reagan who famously said there's nary specified happening arsenic a authorities programme that doesn't live, it's the champion grounds we person for eternal life," Ramaswamy said. "And you know, I don't deliberation it has to beryllium that way." 

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Trump announced Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy would beryllium starring the Department of Government Efficiency ("DOGE") connected Tuesday, November 12, 2024.  (Getty Images)

Blackburn added she has introduced authorities to halt national wage increases and hiring until recommendations from DOGE are implemented, arsenic good arsenic a measure to betterment the national workforce, advocating for a displacement from tenure-based promotions to a merit-based system.

"And those are those are things that request to beryllium enacted," Blackburn said. "We are conscionable truthful pleased that President Trump has said now's the time. We're truthful pleased that helium has said that you and Elon are the radical to marque this happen."

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When announcing the Department of Government Efficiency, Trump said the sheet would assistance his medication "slash excess regulations, chopped wasteful expenditures, and restructure Federal Agencies."

House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., recently announced a caller subcommittee for the 119th Congress to correspond with the Department of Government Efficiency.

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Congress is racing to beryllium acceptable to execute the recommendations of Trump's caller DOGE commission (Getty Images)

House Republicans are besides jumping connected the bid to slash spending. Rep. Stephanie Bice, R-Okla., introduced a caller measure past week –  the "Decreasing Overlapping Grants Efficiently (DOGE) Act," – which would found a strategy for cutting down connected redundant authorities grants from crossed aggregate departments.

"It's a large undertaking," Ramaswamy said. "But I bash deliberation that if we bring the nationalist on and adjacent let the nationalist to enactment successful airing areas wherever they're encountering authorities discarded oregon bureaucracy and aboveground that we're capable to marque this thing that isn't conscionable apical down, but besides bottommost up."

Fox News Digital's Elizabeth Elkind contributed to this report.