Senate DOGE chair says she speaks with Elon Musk 'every few days' as Trump admin slashes spending
2025-02-12
Category: political

Senate Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) Caucus Chairwoman Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, said she talks to Trump-aligned billionaire Elon Musk every couple of days as he spearheads the administration's effort to slash wasteful spending.&nbsp; "We communicate back and forth every few days or so," she told Fox News Digital in an interview. "I'll send additional ideas that we come up with." According to Ernst, during a meeting at President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida in November, she gave Musk "an eight-page memorandum blueprint with a number of cost-saving ideas." SCOOP: TRUMP BUDGET CHIEF VOUGHT TELLS GOP SENATORS $175B NEEDED 'IMMEDIATELY' FOR BORDER SECURITY  "He literally is taking that and running with it," the Iowa Republican remarked.&nbsp; She said she simply sends new ideas directly to Musk, and "pretty soon you'll see a tweet out on X." When asked whether she thought she would ever be working to audit the government with the billionaire CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, as well as the owner of X, Ernst laughed, "Never in a million years." TRUMP ON VERGE OF NEXT CABINET VICTORY WITH LATE-NIGHT TULSI GABBARD SENATE VOTE  Since Trump took office last month, DOGE has taken swift action to audit agencies and departments within the executive branch, rooting out contracts, programs and spending that Trump and Musk consider unnecessary or wasteful.&nbsp; The effort has been met by Democrats with protests, as lawmakers have shown up outside the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the Department of Treasury and the Department of Education to demonstrate. Some Democrats have even attempted to enter the buildings, but were prevented.&nbsp; NOEM, HEGSETH, BONDI PLEAD WITH CONGRESS FOR MORE BORDER FUNDING AMID LARGE-SCALE DEPORTATIONS  On the other hand, Republicans have cheered the initiative. For example, Ernst told Fox News Digital that DOGE's actions so far have been "tremendous."&nbsp; As for criticisms of how DOGE's staffers are conducting their audit and what information they are gaining access to, the Iowa Republican maintained that it is completely legal in her opinion. "This is the executive branch and they are scrutinizing the executive branch. So, of course, it's legal," she said.&nbsp; LORI CHAVEZ-DEREMER: THE LITTLE-KNOWN TRUMP NOMINEE WHO MAY NEED TO RELY ON DEMS  CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP "There is nothing in the Constitution that says the president cannot scrutinize the expenditures, especially when those dollars are going to programs that members here in Congress did not anticipate," she noted, referencing jaw-dropping programs being uncovered by DOGE, showing significant money going towards Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI), among other initiatives.&nbsp; Fox News Digital reached out to Musk's DOGE for comment.