'Knives are out': Senator tapped for DOGE caucus warns 'waste is on the chopping block'

An Iowa senator has been tapped to take the helm of a new Senate caucus that will work with Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy's largely symbolic Department of Government Efficiency, which is tasked with identifying areas to slash spending.

Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) will head the Senate DOGE Caucus after meeting with Ramaswamy at Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago club, Politico reported.

"The tables are finally turning, the knives are out, and waste is on the chopping block," Ernst said in a statement, according to the news outlet. "The Senate DOGE Caucus is ready to carry out critical oversight in Congress and use our legislative force to fight against the entrenched bureaucracy, trim the fat, and get Washington back to work for Americans."

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Ramaswamy wrote on social media that he and Musk look forward to partnering with the Senate to "downsize government."

"Grateful to Sen. Joni Ernst for her excellent suggestions yesterday!" he exclaimed.

Ernst is Iowa's junior senator. She has stirred controversy by promoting conspiracy theories, including about COVID-19, such as expressing skepticism about the death toll. In 2020, she suggested healthcare providers could be inflating coronavirus-related deaths for financial gain, a debunked claim echoed by far-right commentators and QAnon supporters.

On the House side, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) will join a congressional subcommittee that will coordinate with DOGE.