WASHINGTON – Today on the floor, U.S. Senator John Cornyn (R-TX) discussed the goals of President-elect Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) in conjunction with the Senate DOGE Caucus, of which he is a founding member. Excerpts of Sen. Cornyn’s remarks are below, and video can be found here.

“I’m very excited about [President Trump’s] partnership with my fellow Texan, Elon Musk, who will help lead the newly created Department of Government Efficiency.”

“Our nation’s debt has skyrocketed to more than $36 trillion.”

“Where we spend what we spend is almost as important as how much we spend.”

“[DOGE] can highlight ways we can cut waste and inefficiency, and whether it’s the President through executive order, whether it’s the Congress through Congressional Review Acts, or through other legislation, we can join them in cutting our spending.”

“Simply preventing the implementation of President Biden’s rule limiting vehicle carbon emissions—effectively an electric vehicle mandate—would save $150 billion.”

“Another simple but effective way of eliminating waste would be to eliminate COVID-era work policies for employees at federal agencies.”

“The people who rely on these agencies for services, the public, are often faced with extended wait times due to federal employees working remotely.”

“If federal employees don’t want to show up for work, then American taxpayers should not have to pay them.”

“I look forward to working with the DOGE Committee [on] all of our efforts to identify and eliminate areas of government waste, and rein in reckless and wasteful spending, and improve the lives of Texans and all Americans in the process.”