Some Democrats were ready to embrace President Donald Trump’s plans for an Elon Musk-led effort to crack down on government waste and spending. Now they’re distancing themselves from the initiative after seeing how it’s actually being carried out.
Following Musk’s aggressive and legally questionable blitz on government agencies, Democrats have soured on the Department of Government Efficiency. They worry it’s more about dismantling the government than dismantling government inefficiency.
Initially, centrist and even some progressive Democrats were hopeful DOGE would provide their party with an opportunity to show they’re willing to work across the aisle. Plus, the idea of streamlining the federal government is always popular with the American public.
But now those same Democrats are deeply skeptical of Musk’s motivations and whether there’s any room to seriously work with Trump on the issue. And while they’re still supportive of the general concept of rooting out government waste, fraud and abuse, Democrats now see the Musk-led DOGE initiative as tainted.
Rep. Greg Landsman (D-Ohio), a moderate Democrat who expressed interest in coordinating with DOGE told us: “Sadly, this has become a way for the wealthiest person alive, who gets billions in federal money, to hack the federal government data and payment system at the expense of the American people.”
Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.), who previously said there are certain aspects of DOGE he could get behind, told us he’s “appalled by the unconstitutional efforts to block funding appropriated and authorized by Congress.” Khanna said he’s made those concerns known to Musk.
“I will work on strategic cuts to a bloated defense budget — but Congress has that authority, not bureaucratic coders who get to press a button to stop payments,” he added.
Rep. Jared Moskowitz (D-Fla.), the first Democrat to join the House’s DOGE Caucus, is questioning the merits of having a congressional DOGE counterpart after Trump and Musk steamrolled Congress during the first two weeks of the new administration. The Florida Democrat hinted he may not stay in the group.
Here’s Moskowitz:
Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-Texas), a centrist who has also voiced support for the DOGE mission, had been weighing whether to formally join the DOGE caucus. But now Cuellar says: “I think I’m going to take my time.”
However, Rep. Tom Suozzi (N.Y.), another moderate Democrat, said he isn’t quite ready to shut the door on joining the caucus. “I’m very interested in the idea of finding inefficiencies and making things better, but I want it to be done the right way, and I want it to be done legally,” he told us.
