‘We’re going to gut the fish’: Republicans give details from closed-door meetings with DOGE’s Musk, Ramaswamy

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congressional Republicans are planning to work closely with Tesla CEO Elon Musk and former presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, the pair co-leading Trump’s newly formed spending cuts project, the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).

The DOGE duo made their rounds with lawmakers in Washington, D.C. on Thursday, spending the morning with members of the Senate DOGE Caucus before heading to a meeting with House GOP leaders and House DOGE Caucus representatives.

The pair, who will spearhead efforts under President-elect Trump to slash government spending and strengthen government efficiency under the incoming Trump administration, wrapped up their day on Capitol Hill by addressing a joint meeting with Republicans of both chambers.

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., incoming chair of the DOGE House subcommittee, revealed that, during the meeting, Musk said there would be a “naughty list” and a “nice list” for lawmakers.

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“There will be a lot more that is expressed in the days ahead,” Johnson said as he left the meeting. “Stay tuned for more to come.”

Co-chairs of the DOGE House caucus said there was a “big discussion” during the meeting with Musk and Ramaswamy about education and the redundancy of government workers.

“There is so much waste, fraud and abuse. There is so much inefficiency. Where do we begin?” DOGE Caucus co-chair Rep. Aaron Bean, R-Fla., said.

He suggested there was already “low-hanging fruit” for improving government efficiency that Republicans could agree on that included the issues of education and the federal workforce.

“There was a big discussion about education. There was a big discussion about redundancy of government workers as they exist in programs across the country. This was not a ‘pick your program and select it and get agreement.’ This was the idea forum,” said co-chair Rep. Pete Sessions, R-Texas.

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Sessions also highlighted how the timeframe for DOGE, which is expected to conclude no later than July 4, 2026, on the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence’s signing, will help ensure agency efficiency.

Rep. Troy Nehls, R-Texas, walking out of the meeting, told reporters that “we’re going to gut the fish.”

Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, however, was skeptical of them relying on the new department to cut costs. 

“It’s a little rich to go, ‘Oh DOGE, save us.’ What, from ourselves?” Roy told reporters. “What I told them is, their best role is to expose the absolute stupidity coming out of this body.”

But Rep-elect Mike Haridolopos, R-Fla., argued it was good to have an outside eye looking at how the federal government is run.

“The lowest-hanging fruit, one overall thing we need to do is eventually pass a balanced budget amendment,” he said of where Congress could help cut waste. “I think the second one is that people have to show up to work. Everybody else in America, they don’t show up to work, they don’t get paid. And so these government employees need to show up to work.”

Ahead of the meeting with Congress, Musk was asked if he wanted Democratic members to be part of DOGE conversations, to which he was heard answering “yes.”

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Musk sat down with incoming Senate Majority Leader John Thune on Thursday morning, while Ramaswamy met with the Senate DOGE Caucus to hear from chair Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa., who unveiled a 60-page proposal for potential spending cuts.