Iowa Republican U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst will lead the U.S. Senate’s “DOGE” caucus, which will work with the newly formed Department of Government Efficiency formed by President-elect Donald Trump as he looks to slash government regulations and workforce.
Ernst has long advocated to cut government waste and bureaucracy during her time in the Senate. Ernst previously advocated for federal employees to come back to work in person, has criticized President Joe Biden’s administration for the cost of maintaining empty federal offices, and has sponsored legislation that would require enhanced reporting for government projects over $1 billion that are behind schedule.
Ernst has been a staunch critic of government waste and has periodically handed out “squeal awards” when her investigations uncover government waste.
Ernst has also used the phrase “make ‘em squeal” and criticized the “swamp” on the campaign trail and has been a harsh critic of the federal bureaucracy. During her run for U.S. Senate in 2014, Ernst released an ad where she said she would make Washington bureaucrats “squeal” by challenging the bureaucracy.
“From billion-dollar boondoggles to welfare for politicians and trillion-dollar slush funds, my decade-long investigations have exposed levels of abuse that are almost too insane to believe,” Ernst said. “The tables are finally turning, the knives are out, and waste is on the chopping block.”
Ernst said as the federal committee starts its work, “The Senate DOGE Caucus is ready to carry out critical oversight in Congress and use our legislative force to fight against the entrenched bureaucracy, trim the fat, and get Washington back to work for Americans.”
Ernst was joined by six other Republican senators in creating the caucus and will work in partnership with the newly formed DOGE led by entrepreneurs Vivek Ramaswamy and Elon Musk.
“We look forward to partnering with the Senate to downsize government,” Ramaswamy wrote in a post to X, formerly Twitter, on Friday. “Grateful to Senator Joni Ernst for her excellent suggestions yesterday.”
Ernst met with Ramaswamy on Thursday to discuss her decade-long work in spotlighting government waste.
Trump named the pair to head the nongovernmental advisory committee on Nov. 12.
The department will take aim at cutting government workforce, regulations, and spending.
The House Oversight Committee announced a new subcommittee on Delivering on Government Efficiency on Friday and U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., will lead the subcommittee. A House version of the Senate DOGE Caucus was announced on Tuesday.