Axios calls it “the kind of committee you put together when you’re trying to stage the Capitol Hill equivalent of bare-knuckle brawls.”
It is the new House subcommittee overseeing President Trump’s new Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) and it’s stacked with some of the most outspoken and ideological lawmakers in both parties, Axios reported here.
Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) is the subcommittee chair, joined by Republican Reps. Tim Burchett, Tenn.; Pat Fallon, Brandon Gill and Michael Cloud of Texas; William Timmons, S.C.; Brian Jack, Ga.; and Eric Burlison, Mo. Cloud and Burlison are members of the Freedom Caucus.
Democrats will be led by Rep. Melanie Stansbury (D-N.M.) and will include Reps. Robert Garcia, Calif.; Jasmine Crockett and Greg Casar, Texas; Eleanor Holmes Norton, delegate from D.C.; and Stephen Lynch, Mass. Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-Va.), the ranking member on the Oversight Committee, will be permitted to sit on the subcommittee as well, Politico reported.
Budget cuts
The DOGE committee will look for federal budget cuts. Here are some free ideas:
- Require funding for legislation before passing it. The Tennessee legislature requires a fiscal note on every bill. Want to repair more roads and bridges? Then increase the gasoline tax (as Gov. Bill Haslam and the Republican-controlled legislature did in 2017-18). Flat budgets are nice, but if you’re going to increase spending, raise the taxes to pay for it.
- Eliminate pensions and special insurance/benefits for federal employees. Don’t backtrack on existing people, but get this squared away now for future hires. Pay a fair wage, hire the minimum number of people needed and contribute toward benefits like corporations do with health insurance and retirement matches.
- Be creative with agencies like the U.S. Postal Service. Eliminate Saturday mail delivery; restrict hours in smaller post offices; close and consolidate all you can.
Every tax exemption, every dime spent in the federal budget is there because somebody loves it. Can this DOGE committee find the Wizard of Oz? Some lack a heart, others lack a brain, virtually all lack courage. I would not bet money on their success, but here’s hoping they can make this work.
You’re kidding! Right?
Bryan Hair, disgraced former chief-of-staff for Mayor Glenn Jacobs, is considering a run for Knox County mayor in 2026. Jacobs is term-limited. Hair should lace up his designer shoes, climb in his county-owned golf cart and drive away. Quickly.
The problem with pensions is that everyone and their brother is allowed to steal from them. Without them federal employees, the good ones anyway, will cease to exist. You think Burchett would be hanging around without his finger in the pie?
Good food for thought! THANK YOU!
Michael: I agree. Once a new idea is funded it grows into a department or agency and never dies. I would love to be in Tim Burchett’s seat on this committee. It’s hard work but important to get it right. – s.
The federal government is too big. Too many people have unnecessary jobs that don’t do much of anything. And a lot of them don’t even show up for work, in an office. Talk about waste. Remember 25 years ago when people complained about the government buying $300 screw drivers and $1,000 toilet seats? That still goes on. As Trump says, we need common sense in the federal government. Somebody will have to step up and say “no” and say that’s not needed or that costs too much.