President-elect Donald Trump’s effort to drain the swamp will start to take shape on Thursday when the co-leaders of his Department of Government Efficiency meet with congressional leaders and the new chairwoman of the House Oversight Delivering on Government Efficiency subcommittee.
Panel chairwoman Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) told Secrets that the first meeting of the “DOGE” team indicates that Trump has prioritized streamlining government.
“President Trump finally has the support, the backing, and basically the muscle power that he deserved in 2017. And it’s actually bigger and better than before. And I think we have a real opportunity this time to actually do it, or at least, you know, push the ball really far down the field and try to get there, and we can’t squander it,” the GOP firebrand said.
Greene, like Trump’s DOGE team of businessmen Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, has been a critic of the bloated federal government, excessive federal regulations, and wasteful spending.
“We have a once in a lifetime opportunity to change the course that we’re on, and the American people deserve it.”
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— Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene
(@RepMTG) November 27, 2024
Coordinating their actions will be among the initial chores during Thursday’s meeting and the first 100 days of the new Trump administration.
“Everything’s being set up, so it’s a lot of early stages right now,” Greene said in an interview.
“They’re going to have their own independent commission, and they need to, but I’ll definitely be working closely with them because, you know, I’ll have a subcommittee that has subpoena power, and their commission doesn’t have subpoena power,” the lawmaker said.
Greene hasn’t decided the targets of her subcommittee. But she told Secrets that some are obvious, including the border crisis, taxpayer funding of National Public Radio, transgender surgery on children, and even Ukraine spending.
“I can do money that’s gone to transing children. We can go after NGOs that have enabled the invasion into America with American taxpayer dollars. I might even play around with Ukraine if I want to. We’ll see. We’ll see where this little road goes. NPR, you know, all kinds of stuff,” Greene said.
Most importantly, she has no boundaries. “I’ve been told that nothing is off the table, which I’m very excited about,” she said.
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For Greene, the new subcommittee chairmanship is a sign of her influence in the House Republican caucus and her personal rise. For example, when she first arrived in Washington, Democrats tried to muzzle her and barred her from sitting on House committees. Now, she will lead many of those same Democrats.
“I think it’s pretty cool,” Greene said, adding, “I think God always has a plan. And even when it looks like all hope is lost, God always has a different idea. So, I’m excited.”
