Iowa Sen. Joni Ernst pitches Elon Musk on $1 trillion in federal spending cuts [View all]

Source: Nebraska Examiner

By: Jennifer Shutt - November 25, 2024 5:49 pm

WASHINGTON — Iowa Republican Sen. Joni Ernst began proposing ways to cut government spending to the Trump team this weekend, but she’ll need to convince her colleagues in Congress if her ideas are going to have any chance of taking effect — like ending the manufacture of pennies and nickels and curbing overpayments for Pentagon goods.

Ernst, chair of the newly created government efficiency caucus in the Senate, hand-delivered her letter to President-elect Donald Trump this weekend at Mar-a-Lago in Florida, according to her office.

She also gave copies of the letter to Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, the two close Trump allies picked to drastically cut government spending through the so-called Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE.

“When faced with proposals to trim the fat from Washington’s budget, members of Congress from both parties act like Goldilocks,” Ernst wrote in the letter. “It’s too little or too big, always too hard, and never just right. But the real ‘make-believe’ of this fairy tale is that it’s impossible to reduce Washington’s budget without causing pain.”


President-elect Donald Trump, center, sits with, left to right, businessman Howard Lutnick; Iowa U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst; Ernst chief of staff Lisa Goeas; and billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk at Mar-a-Lago, Trump’s Florida estate, last weekend. Ernst gave Musk a letter about suggested cuts in government spending. (Photo courtesy of Ernst office).


Read more: https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2024/11/25/dc/iowa-sen-joni-ernst-pitches-elon-musk-on-1-trillion-in-federal-spending-cuts/