DOGE Makes ‘Shocking’ Finding

 

The Elon Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has found a “shocking” number of federal government expenditures that Congress did not approve, House Speaker Mike Johnston (R-La.) said this past week.

Republicans are “fully supportive of what the DOGE effort is doing and what the president is doing,“ Johnson told reporters on Monday. ”It’s a very aggressive agenda that was promised to the voters. Remember, he’s delivering on campaign promises right now.

“We are going to be codifying a lot of these changes, and what they’ve uncovered is, frankly, shocking. There are a lot of expenditures of the federal government that Congress has not been aware of. In spite of our best efforts to do oversight, some of this has been hidden.”

Johnson’s comments run counter to claims made by some Democratic lawmakers who accuse the organization of illegally proposing cuts to federal agencies or programs approved by Congress.

Rep. Jared Moskowitz (D-Fla.), who is a member of the newly minted House DOGE Caucus, told reporters that what DOGE and Musk “[are] doing is they’re cutting and stopping, which is things that the executive branch can’t do. That’s for Congress to do.”

Last year, Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.) told CNN that “the impoundment of funds that have been appropriated by the Congress is unconstitutional and illegal,” referring to cuts that DOGE proposed.

DOGE was created to find and eliminate wasteful government spending. Its access to Treasury records and its inspection of government agencies has drawn criticism from congressional Democrats, while Musk’s supporters, including Johnson and President Donald Trump, have praised the idea of reining in bloated government finances.

Since DOGE’s work began last month, Democrats have been filing lawsuits against the Trump administration. Several federal judges have ordered pauses on DOGE’s work, including its access to U.S. Treasury records.