Reforming the DOGE Caucus: A Review of Congressional Efforts

The Rise and Fall of the DOGE Caucus

Five months ago, the congressional DOGE caucuses were the hottest tickets in town, with many lawmakers in both parties eager to prove they believed the federal government should be reformed.

The Senate and House established the caucuses before Inauguration Day. And soon after, Elon Musk and his former DOGE partner, Vivek Ramaswamy were on Capitol Hill, introducing themselves to lawmakers.

The first DOGE caucus meetings in the House were packed.

But the group has not been involved with Musk’s decision-making, according to the House DOGE caucus’ first Democratic member, Rep. Jared Moskowitz (D-Fla.).

In fact, the caucus has fizzled out, he said in a Q&A with POLITICO.

Democrats, for their part, have largely withdrawn their support for the idea of DOGE in the wake of the dismissal of thousands of federal employees and the elimination of entire agencies.

Musk has completed much of his government trimming effort while leaving Congress panicked, and in the dark.

One of the DOGE Caucus co-chairs says the caucus is “just getting started.”

“Congress can enact long-term change, and our 100 committed members and eight specialized working groups are working to codify critical reforms and preparing legislation that will unlock savings for the American people,” Rep. Aaron Bean (R-Fla.) said in a statement.

The Demise of the DOGE Caucus

Our chat with Moskowitz has been edited for length and clarity.

You were the first Democrat to join the bipartisan DOGE caucus in Congress. What’s the status of that group?

The DOGE caucus is dead. It’s defunct. We haven’t met in months. We only had two total meetings in five months. And we weren’t involved at all in anything [happening at DOGE], which Elon was in charge of. Zero. Zilch. Nada. [Musk] did it all on his own.

DOGE was a complete failure. Complete failure. Nothing has been made more efficient. Ask the people in Newark [Liberty International Airport, which has suffered delays and cancellations] how efficiency is going.

Was there an expectation that the DOGE caucus would be involved in DOGE’s decisions?

Yes, that’s what the three congressional chairs of the DOGE caucus [Bean and Reps. Pete Sessions (R-Texas) and Blake Moore (R-Utah)] told us. They told us that they were going to work with us. They told us these things would come through Congress.

None of it happened.

Do you expect DOGE cuts to be approved by Congress?

That’s a good question. If [Speaker] Mike Johnson decides he actually wants to be the speaker of the House, he can assert some authority to get this stuff moving.

But he hasn’t shown any willingness to do that. He’s just been a pawn of the executive branch.

The Future of Congressional Reform

You’re the former head of Florida’s emergency management department. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has publicly said she wants FEMA dismantled. What could that mean?

[Johnson] represents Louisiana. If a Category 4 storm comes into Louisiana this summer, God forbid, with the way FEMA is operating, his state will go bankrupt.

I’m concerned FEMA won’t be able to function this summer. The president is right that FEMA needs reform. But the elimination of FEMA is absolutely wrong and will devastate red states more than blue states.

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