JUST IN: Prominent Democrat Rep. Joins DOGE Caucus

President-elect Donald Trump picked up unlikely support from a congressional Democrat on Tuesday who announced he would be joining a U.S. House extension of the administration’s new agency tasked with cleaning up the federal government.

The nascent Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), to be co-headed by Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, has seen House Republicans launch a parallel caucus to provide advice and consent about its myriad methods for jettisoning waste, abuse, and fraud over the next four years. On Tuesday Rep. Jared Moskowitz (D-FL) became the first sitting Democrat to join the caucus.

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“Today, I will join the Congressional DOGE Caucus, because I believe that streamlining government processes and reducing ineffective government spending should not be a partisan issue,” the Florida Democrat said in a statement obtained by Punchbowl News’ Jake Sherman. “I’ve been clear that there are ways we can reorganize our government to make it work better for the American people. Specifically, the Department of Homeland Security, while very necessary, has gotten too big. The Caucus should look at the bureaucracy that DHS has become and include recommendations to make Secret Service and FEMA independent federal agencies with a direct report to the White House. It’s not practical to have 22 agencies under this one department. I look forward to working in a bipartisan manner with my colleagues to remove FEMA and Secret Service from DHS.”

JARED MOSKOWITZ is the first Democrat to join the DOGE caucus. pic.twitter.com/PKu7JCUsz1

— Jake Sherman (@JakeSherman) December 3, 2024

Moskowitz’s move underscores how popular Trump’s promise to clean house has become among voters who provided him with a mandate to enact over the next four years. Musk, the mercurial founder of SpaceX and Tesla Motors, has promised to be so thorough in removing waste under DOGE that the agency’s final step will be to “delete itself.” Ramaswamy has similarly promised to use DOGE as a clearinghouse for reviewing Deep State bureaucrats who put up roadblocks to the president’s agenda.

The DOGE Caucus was launched in mid-November by Reps. Aaron Bean (R-FL) and Pete Sessions (R-TX) with a nod to the nation’s $36 trillion national debt. “Our national debt has surpassed a staggering $36 trillion and should be a wakeup call for all Americans. We must take action to avoid diving headfirst off the cliff of fiscal ruin,” said Congressman Bean. “I’m thrilled with President-elect Trump’s appointment of Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy to lead DOGE, but taking on Crazy Town will be no easy task—they will need partners. Our DOGE Caucus, will work closely with the Department of Government Efficiency to help rein in reckless spending and stop the abuse of taxpayer dollars.”

Sessions added, “As Chairman of the Subcommittee on Government Operations and the Federal Workforce, it has been my priority to identify and stop ongoing waste, fraud, and abuse in our government. According to a report from the GAO, there has been over $2.7 trillion in fraud and improper payments since 2003. This is an absolutely unacceptable misuse of taxpayer dollars. Hardworking Americans deserve a government that works efficiently and effectively. I am looking forward to working with Congressman Bean and serving as Co-Chair of the DOGE Caucus to continue my commitment in rooting our inefficiency in government.”

Earlier this year, Rep. Bean introduced the “Cutting Unobligated Tumultuous Spending (CUTS) Act,” which would have slashed Green New Deal spending by $95 billion to offset previous spending for Ukraine’s war.

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