GOP Rep Buddy Carter says DOGE can identify ‘waste’ but Congress makes the final call

“That's why we have the DOGE caucus, because remember Vivek [Ramaswamy] and Elon [Musk], they're great businessmen and obviously very successful, obviously very smart and we need them to identify the waste, fraud and abuse. But it's going to have to be us in Congress who take it one step further and who change it, because we are the ones with the authority,” Carter said.

“They're not really going to have any authority. Yes, they can point out problems to us, point out where the waste, fraud and abuse is and where we need to tighten up. But we in Congress are going to be one to have to follow through on that.”

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene is expected to be named as the chair of a new House subcommittee responsible for working with the organization as DOGE makes recommendations to Congress.

The interview also highlighted Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) and his annual “Festivus” report on how the federal government wastes tax dollars. Rand revealed the latest report earlier this week where he listed over $1 trillion in government spending that included money for ice skating drag queens, keeping Paraguay’s border secure, and treating depressed rats with cocaine.

The report from senator’s office stated, "This year, I am highlighting a whopping $1,008,313,329,626.12. That’s over $1 trillion in government waste, including things like ice-skating drag queens, a $12 Million Las Vegas pickleball complex, $4,840,082 on Ukrainian influencers, and more."

Democratic reaction to the DOGE has been varied, with some lawmakers like Representative Jared Moskowitz (D-FL) wanting to join in on the action and others, like Sen. Chris Murphy (D-NJ) saying his party shouldn’t “normalize” DOGE.