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.
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.
Democratic attorneys general, in a legal challenge targeting DOGE’s access to the Treasury, claimed that “unauthorized individuals” have a significant level of access.
“DOGE has no authority to access this information, which they explicitly sought in order to block critical payments that millions of Americans rely on—payments that support health care, childcare, and other essential programs,” attorneys general from 13 states wrote in a lawsuit filed this past week.
“The people voted for major government reform and that’s what the people are going to get,” Musk told reporters. “They’re going to get what they voted for.”
Musk appeared alongside Trump in the Oval Office as the president signed an executive order that mandates federal agencies to work with DOGE on hiring.
The world’s richest person and confirmed by the White House to be a special government employee, Musk also said that it is “essential” for the government to reduce spending. He described the massive federal workforce as an “unelected” fourth branch of government.
He also disputed claims that he could use DOGE’s work to improperly benefit his companies, including Tesla and SpaceX, which have billions of dollars in contracts with the federal government.
“You can see whether I’m doing something that’s benefitting one of my companies or not,” Musk said. “It’s totally obvious.”
