Rep. Jared Moskowitz (D-FL) is the first Democrat to join the Delivering Outstanding Government Efficiency (DOGE) Caucus, he announced Tuesday, providing a bipartisan shot in the arm to the caucus.
Moskowitz announced in a statement he will join the congressional caucus because “streamlining government processes and reducing ineffective government spending should not be a partisan issue.”
The caucus, founded by Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA) and Reps. Aaron Bean (R-FL) and Pete Sessions (R-FL), will support efforts by the Trump-established Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), an outside group to be run by Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy.
House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R-KY) also will create a Delivering on Government Efficiency (DOGE) Subcommittee to be helmed by Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), tasked with working with Musk and Ramaswamy.
Moskowitz pointed to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) as specifically needing reform.
“While necessary, [DHS] has gotten too big,” he said, pointing to the department’s bureaucracy but specifically the need “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,” he argues.
Florida, situated between the Gulf of Mexico and Atlantic Ocean, is often hit by hurricanes, with FEMA the primary government agency assisting with disaster recovery.
Other Democrats have offered targeted support of DOGE. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA) have both cited defense spending as an area for DOGE to train its sights.
“Elon Musk is right,” Sanders tweeted. “The Pentagon, with a budget of $886 billion, just failed its 7th audit in a row. It’s lost track of billions. Last year, only 13 senators voted against the Military Industrial Complex and a defense budget full of waste and fraud. That must change.”
Khanna also pointed to the failed audits and waste, fraud, and abuse at the Pentagon.
“There needs to be more open competition, not the monopolization in defense contractors,” he said.
While the DOGE department itself is non-governmental, its recommendations are likely to be a key contributor to efforts in the administration and on Capitol Hill to highlight areas to cut government spending and instigate reforms.
Bradley Jaye is a Capitol Hill Correspondent for Breitbart News. Follow him on X/Twitter at @BradleyAJaye.