Washington
CNN
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As Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy make sweeping promises to cut $2 trillion in federal spending, top House Republicans have raised concerns with GOP leaders that efforts aimed at cutting wasteful federal spending would put the party on a collision course.
Senior House Republicans, including some who serve on the committee responsible for appropriating funds, have expressed concerns about how to put into practice conflicting parameters set under President-elect Donald Trump now that the enthusiasm around the creation of the Ministry of Government Effectiveness started to settle down.
Even though Republicans want to take big steps to carry out Trump’s cost-cutting mandate, they have found themselves in a paradox that can be summed up as a math problem with political mines attached. And they don’t have much time to solve it since Musk and Ramaswamy want to finish their work by 2026.
All of the government’s discretionary spending, which makes up 30 percent of the federal budget and includes defense spending that Republicans don’t want to cut, falls short of the $2 trillion price tag set by Musk and Ramaswamy. This means they should consider mandatory spending, which includes popular safety net programs such as Social security that even Trump said he wouldn’t be affected. On top of that, Republicans want to spend more money to implement Trump’s tough border measures, keep Trump’s promise during his mass deportation campaign and continue supporting Israel in its ongoing war in the Middle East. -East.
“This is not a private company. If it did, it would be a lot easier,” a senior Republican Party lawmaker told CNN, laying out the conflicting factors. “What I hear is good, aspirational things, but the things they talk about, the details: they’re tiny, low-hanging fruit. »
Despite their concerns about the obstacles ahead, Republican lawmakers have made the case directly to Musk and Ramaswamy that they need to work with Congress, not them, multiple sources told CNN, even as Trump shows signs that he wants to test the waters of making unilateral spending decisions by rejoining the team that unsuccessfully helped him do it the first time.
Even Musk privately admitted to lawmakers that some of his ideas so far haven’t been very popular or won’t be successful, multiple sources told CNN, but stressed that he wants the process to be collaborative. One such proposal that is gaining ground, according to two sources, is to cut all federal workers hired in the last year. The idea is sparking strong reactions internally, but many have cautioned that it is still too early to criticize the ideas.
“They were very thoughtful and deliberate in sitting down with key stakeholders. But they are in information-gathering mode,” Republican Rep. Dusty Johnson of South Dakota told CNN. “One of the key rules of brainstorming is not to criticize ideas while brainstorming.”
Republicans have raised the possibility of using reconciliation, a process to speed up the processing of agenda items by allowing lawmakers to bypass the threshold of 60 votes generally required to introduce a bill in the Senate, to adopt some of the proposed regulatory reductions, administrative reductions and cost-saving measures. But it’s a complicated process that Republicans already disagree on how to use.
Lawmakers also warned DOGE leaders that Trump’s White House lawyers must be prepared to face expected lawsuits for any cuts they attempt to achieve outside of Congress, such as through executive orders, two sources told CNN. Musk and Ramaswamy have already consulted with lawyers as well as private sector volunteers as they begin reviewing government programs, one of the sources added.
The complicated reality created discomfort.
“I wish them all the best, and I mean that sincerely, but then you have to figure out how to build the bridge to actually make it happen in government, because right now, even though ‘doggie’ is a great concept , There are a lot of people correctly asking, so how am I going to do this? GOP Rep. Mark Amodei of Nevada, who sits on the House Appropriations Committee, told CNN.
On the heels of Musk and Ramaswamy’s splashy visit to Capitol Hill last week to preview their new effort, a bipartisan group of lawmakers attended a high-profile forum with high-ranking members of the law enforcement community. defense and has faced concerns about deep cuts that could impact military capacity.
“We were talking about it this weekend,” said Republican Rep. Don Bacon of Nebraska, who was at the Reagan National Defense Forum. “We just want to make sure it doesn’t reduce combat capability.” If you can show me the waste, I’m all for reducing it.
Even Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, who heads the oversight subcommittee working with DOGE and spent the weekend meeting with Trump and his team, said people were approaching the tough cuts that needed to be made in a manner practical.
“Everyone is a realist,” Greene told CNN. “It’s always difficult at the beginning, and then once you overcome it, everything becomes bigger and stronger.”
House Speaker Mike Johnson, a Louisiana Republican who is in regular contact with Trump, Musk and Ramaswamy, told CNN: “There is so much potential. »
Meanwhile, Trump is showing signs that he is laying the groundwork to test the waters by bypassing Congress to pass these cuts, a reality that Republican lawmakers appear unwilling to face.
His nominee to head the Office of Management and Budget, which would turn DOGE proposals into reality, is a strong proponent that Trump can refuse to spend money that Congress appropriates, a process called impoundments. Russell Vought, co-author of Project 2025, called impoundments are “a necessary remedy for our budgetary fragility”.
Trump’s pick for OMB general counsel, Mark Paoletta, even writing on the constitutional arguments in favor of seizures.
Musk and Ramaswamy also wrote a opinion article in support of impoundments.
During his first term as president, Trump attempted to circumvent Congress by withholding funds from Ukraine while pressuring President Volodymyr Zelensky to help mount an investigation into Joe Biden. This pressure led to the first impeachment of Trump by Democrats in Congress. The funds were finally released and the Government Accountability Office argued that the Trump administration broke the law by withholding the aid.
Still, lawmakers, many of whom are still learning about the laws surrounding foreclosures, don’t think Trump will move in that direction.
“We worked very hard to stay in the majority and get the majority in Congress. I’m sure the ‘thank you’ for that isn’t ‘we don’t need a stinking Congress,'” Amodei told CNN.
Republican Rep. Max Miller of Ohio, who said all stakeholders involved wanted the same thing, echoed: “They have no choice but to work with us, they have to.” »
And Republican Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, the new Senate Appropriations chair for the next Congress, told CNN before her one-on-one meeting with Musk: “To me, this violates the separation of powers.”
Collins nevertheless said Thursday that she was “impressed” by Musk after meeting him last week.
“In terms of the new effort on government efficiency — I never remember how it’s pronounced, I admit — I had a great 70-minute meeting with Elon Musk,” Collins said during an interview at the bipartisan “No Labels” conference in London. Washington.
The new bipartisan caucus supporting DOGE, led by GOP Reps. Aaron Bean of Florida and Pete Sessions of Texas, pledged to work with Musk and Ramaswamy and said their work was only beginning after the listening sessions of last week. The caucus is working to hold its first official meeting next week.
But the pressure is mounting to act, although the next steps are unclear.
“It’s up to us as Republicans to move forward, to reduce the size of government, to actually reduce the size of government,” Republican Rep. Chip Roy of Texas said Tuesday. “Don’t hide behind DOGE. Don’t hide behind Elon. Don’t hide behind Vivek.
CNN’s David Wright and Veronica Stracqualursi contributed to this report.