DOGE Oversight Congressman Criticizes 'Incredibly Corrupt' Federal Spending

CAPITOL HILL – Elon Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) have been taking heat for dramatic cuts in the federal government. President Trump is fully backing Musk's efforts.

As uncertainty grows across Washington, a group of lawmakers is working together on DOGE's efforts to cut wasteful spending. Some GOP lawmakers are calling for a more cautious approach to cut wasteful spending. But Congressman Tim Burchett tells CBN News that fast action is crucial.

Burchett, a Tennessee Republican, sits on the newly formed DOGE subcommittee. He says it's important to make sure legislation around wasteful spending is passed quickly so Trump's executive orders will stick in the future, ultimately saving billions for taxpayers.

As Musk aggressively works to reduce the federal workforce, he's doubling down on his ultimatum to federal workers to explain their accomplishments or be fired. For the moment, federal workers are getting some reprieve from his recent email job performance mandate.

MORE: Government Meltdown Over DOGE Simmers as Trump Admin Says Response to Musk Email 'Voluntary'

"We're trying to find out if people are working and so we're sending a letter to people, 'please tell us what you did last week,'" Trump told reporters, Monday. 

Some federal workers are stuck in limbo, as some lawmakers are making a public plea to Musk on their behalf. "If I could say one thing to Elon Musk, it's like, please put a dose of compassion in this. These are real people," said Sen. John Curtis (R-Utah).

However, Rep. Burchett wants DOGE to have long-term success. 

He describes the current state of wasteful spending in Washington as "incredibly corrupt."

During their first hearing, the DOGE subcommittee talked to witnesses who shared plans to improve payment systems and decrease fraud. According to the subcommittee, billions of tax-payer dollars were lost to improper payments.

"It was just seven years ago, and our budget was around $4.5 trillion," Burchett said. "We're now spending over $7 trillion, and it's just ballooned and it will never stop."

He says these funds don't have a paper trail or any transparency.  He also believes there hasn't be one federal program since COVID-19 that Americans can't live without.

Burchett tells CBN News he's in favor of Musk moving quickly. 

When asked if he thinks these cuts might be moving too fast, he replied, "No, I don't. I don't think we have much time. I'm getting a lot of blowback from folks that have been working from home and have since moved out of the area, thinking that they're going to get to keep their job."

DOGE's latest round of actions includes requiring federal employees to return to the office, on par with the president's executive order signed last month.

During the recent Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), Trump addressed his federal buyout plan, claiming around 75,000 federal workers had accepted what his administration has called "deferred resignations." 

"I hope they do a complete paper trail and show where all that money goes and who gets paid because I suspect some members of Congress will be embarrassed by some of it," said Burchett.

He says he hopes the committee will continue to expose government waste and eventually pass legislation to protect the president's orders.

"Things that President Trump is doing by executive order are done at the stroke of a pen, and they can be done undone at the stroke of a pen. That's why we need legislation in place to to back these things up, to backstop," he explained.

Meanwhile, more than 20 civil service employees resigned Tuesday from DOGE, saying they refused to use their technical expertise to, "dismantle critical public services."

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