Republican Congressman Offers to Vote on DOGE's Government-Cutting Act

Republican senators have told billionaire Elon Musk that decisions to cut government jobs and budgets need to be approved by Congress .

According to The Hill on March 5th, Musk had lunch with Republican senators and provided an overview of the work of the U.S. Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) in cutting federal programs deemed wasteful.

Senator Rand Paul said that DOGE's efforts to cut federal spending might not be approved by the courts unless it is standardized by Congress through a spending cuts bill. Paul was referring to the Supreme Court's March 5th ruling blocking a budget freeze on the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).

Billionaire Elon Musk appeared after lunch with Republican senators at the US Congress on March 5.

"I like everything they're doing, but we have to vote on those things. Then we need 50 or 51 senators to vote to approve the spending cuts," said Rand Paul.

Senate Budget Committee Chair Lindsey Graham said Senate Republicans support a vote on the cuts. Republican lawmakers say Elon Musk did not give them advance notice of DOGE's moves.

President Trump praised the start of his term.

The Hill reports that this reflects Musk's belief that he can bypass congressional authority simply by confiscating funds that Congress has legally allocated. On March 5, the billionaire said he didn't know Congress could pass the spending cuts with just a Senate majority (at least 50 senators) instead of needing 60 senators to approve it.

Some senators complained about the lack of communication between Congress and Musk's team, and were therefore somewhat surprised by the staff cuts. "Every day is a different surprise," Senator Susan Collins said last week, adding that a clear method for government reform would be better than Musk's hardline approach.

Billionaire Elon Musk told senators at a meeting on March 5 that he would establish a process for quickly responding to concerns and questions from Congress.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/nghi-si-cong-hoa-de-nghi-bo-phieu-hanh-dong-cat-giam-chinh-phu-cua-doge-185250306072048617.htm