The Senate may be a little fashionably late to the efficiency party but they got there. Senator Joni Ernst, a Republican from Iowa, is about to “take charge” of the newly formed “DOGE Caucus.” The House previously formed a subcommittee devoted to slashing waste and red tape headed by Marjorie Taylor Greene. Both chambers of Congress plan to work closely with Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy’s Department of Government Efficiency.
Senate efficiency caucus
It was announced on November 23 that Joni Ernst will “take charge of the newly formed Senate DOGE Caucus.” That means she will “collaborate with tech guru Elon Musk and biotech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy to ‘cut pork‘ in the federal government.”
The conservative Senator is thrilled with the opportunity.
“Iowans elected me,” Ernst proclaimed, “with a mandate to cut Washington’s pork and make ’em squeal!” She’s convinced there are “billion-dollar boondoggles” destined to be slashed. Everything from “welfare for politicians” to “trillion-dollar slush funds” are on the chopping block.
She’s been working along those lines in the Senate for years. “My decade-long investigations have exposed levels of abuse that are almost too insane to believe,” Ernst relates. Now’s the time to cure that fiscal insanity.
Ernst can’t wait for the new administration to take charge. “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.”
We the People are glad to hear it. We’ve been fighting a long time to elect the right team.
The bureaucratic state
Washington D.C. is in for a major cultural upheaval. Several heavy-hitting conservatives have already signed up for the newly formed Senate caucus. North Carolina’s Ted Budd, Rick Scott of Florida, John Cornyn of Texas, Mike Lee of Utah, Roger Marshall of Kansas and James Lankford from Oklahoma.
As soon as she got the word, Ernst “met with Ramaswamy Thursday evening and discussed plans she had to ‘rein in the bureaucratic state‘ inspired by her decade-long crusade against federal waste.”
Back in 2014, while running for a seat in the Senate, “Ernst made a national name for herself.” What got everyone’s attention was an ad she ran recounting how she “grew up castrating hogs on an Iowa farm.”
The rough and tumble Republican declared that “Washington’s full of big spenders — let’s make ’em squeal.” That was a welcome message to angry and upset voters, that year.
That campaign ad morphed into a little project Ernst likes to call the “Squeal Awards.” She uses it to turn senate attention to “spotlighting bloat and inefficiencies.” When she met with Vivek Ramaswamy, she had a whole list of things culled from her findings which the DOGE panel can use to get a running start.
With both the Senate and House in control of Republicans, along with a firmly conservative Supreme Court, the efficiency efforts should be drastic and impressive.
