WASHINGTON — President-elect Donald Trump has appointed entrepreneurs Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy to head a new initiative aimed at reducing federal spending.

It is called the “Department of Government Efficiency” or DOGE and is named after vintage memeIt is based on an image of Musk’s Shiba Inu dog, which is also the name of his favorite cryptocurrency. In other words, the new DOGE is disruptive, exciting, and already in great shape. social media account.

But it’s also an old and decadent concept with a long history of excitement and failure. Despite having “department” in its name, the new project sounds more like a presidential “blue ribbon” commission, a panel of nongovernmental experts that examines an issue and issues a report with nonbinding recommendations.

Whether established by Congress or the president, expert commissions can be a way for policymakers to break down the complexity of the issue, eliminate collective action gridlock, and increase the visibility of a policy issue. They are also a way for policymakers to delay action, avoid responsibility, and empower unelected bureaucrats. Trump himself before criticized the concept.

“We can’t continue to have blue-ribbon committees with your wife, your husband and your wife, and they meet and eat and talk. Talk, talk, talk,” Trump said when he became president in 2018. “That’s what I have in Washington. I have all the blue ribbon committees. Everyone wants to be on the blue ribbon committee.”

on monday Announcement about DOGETrump said it would not be a formal part of his administration, instead saying he would “provide advice and guidance from outside the government and partner with the White House and the Office of Management and Budget to promote and create large-scale structural reforms.” “It is an entrepreneurial approach to government that has never been seen before.”

Musk said he could Easily detect $2 trillion in outages It contributes to the federal government’s $6.5 trillion annual budget, but as many lawmakers noted in interviews with HuffPost this week, it’s actually Congress that should be responsible for government spending.

“One of my colleagues said, ‘I thought that’s what Congress should be doing,’ like examining the government and making it more efficient,” said Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.). “I mean, I’m excited that people like Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy are researching how to make this more efficient. “Then it’s up to us to vote for it.”

Sources in Trump’s orbit: reportedly We are exploring ways to give the DOGE commission the authority to cut federal spending without congressional approval; but any such effort would undoubtedly face a legal challenge and significant pushback from members of Congress who zealously maintain their control over federal spending.

together with Potential to bypass Senate for nominationTrump bypassing lawmakers on spending would be a major step toward neutralizing Congress as a co-equal branch of government. Republicans on Capitol Hill love Musk and Ramaswamy, but they also love their constitutional roles as stewards of public funds.

“Frankly, Congress is ultimately in control,” said Rep. Mike Lawler (R-Y), a moderate member of the House GOP. “In many ways, this is similar to establishing a debt commission or a blue ribbon panel. They’ll make recommendations to the executive branch, to Congress, and that’s fine, and then of course we’ll work on the recommendations that come forward. Ultimately, Congress will have the final say on spending.”

When asked about the possibility of DOGE having unilateral power over spending, other Republicans suggested Congress should still be involved.

“I hope that Musk and Ramaswamy will be fully empowered at the highest level possible,” said outgoing Rep. Bob Good (R-Va.), the former chairman of the right-wing House Freedom Caucus. “I hope Congress will come around and give them additional assistance and authority.”

“I want to hear your suggestions first, whether it’s recommendations or action,” said Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas), another hardliner. “I am in favor of any idea of ​​slashing and burning the federal bureaucracy. “So whatever they want to do to push this forward, great, let’s make sure we have the oversight as Congress and the ability to do everything we need to do.”

The DOGE project appears to be a bipartisan commission established by then-President Barack Obama. executive order In February 2010, Obama charged the commission with “identifying policies that will improve fiscal health over the medium term and ensure fiscal sustainability over the long term.”

Obama created the commission at a time when deficits were a major focus in Washington and even Democrats agreed Congress needed to find ways to cut spending. of the commission the proposals were controversialSpecifically, proposals to raise the Social Security eligibility age and slow growth in benefits prompted panel members to decide not to approve their own products.

Trump has already ruled out cuts to Social Security and Medicare, leaving DOGE with limited budget space in which to operate. But Musk and Ramaswamy remain optimistic about Ramaswamy make suggestions on social media On Wednesday, the government must cancel all programs that receive annual appropriations from Congress, even if the core mandate has expired. This is an idea that could make a lot of sense to someone who is completely unfamiliar with how Congress works.

“There are more than 1,200 programs that are no longer authorized but still receive funding. “This is complete madness,” Ramaswamy wrote, noting that cutting funding for such programs would save hundreds of billions of dollars.

Congress’ allocation of money to programs whose mandates have expired may seem like Washington turned on a money faucet and forgot to turn it off, but it’s actually a category of spending that remains relevant examined closely. The biggest item belongs to the Department of Veterans Affairs, at more than $100 billion, which means health care and benefits for veterans; politically untouchable money.

“Trump’s handpicked budget czar is calling for the elimination of $119 billion in medical care costs for veterans,” said Rep. Debbie Wasserman-Schultz (D-Fla.). he said in response To Ramaswamy. “I will not allow the GOP to destroy veterans’ hard-earned benefits.”

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