Taxpayers cheer the idea of cutting government waste, fraud, and abuse. But Washington DC lawmakers, cozy with big donors, often fight that kicking and screaming. President Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency, led by Elon Musk, is shaking things up, and has Congress buzzing. Today, we dive into the clash with a staunch DOGE supporter and a fierce critic on Capitol Hill.

The following is a transcript of a report from “Full Measure with Sharyl Attkisson.”
Watch the video by clicking the link at the end of the page.

Led by Elon Musk and using a chainsaw approach, the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, claims to be on target for $2 trillion in savings. In one 48-hour period last month, DOGE said it worked to eliminate 226 contracts valued at over a billion dollars. The exact totals are subject to debate, but there’s no doubt that President Trump’s creation has made significant progress.

President Donald Trump: Billions and billions of dollars of waste, fraud, and abuse.

Cutting waste remains immensely popular among taxpayers footing the bill. Polls show 70% view government spending as wasteful, the same percentage is angry about federal waste fraud and abuse, and 77% support spending reviews.

Yet the chainsaw approach rankles Senator Angus King.

Senator Angus King: That Constitution is under the most direct and consequential assault in our nation’s history.

He is a registered independent who typically votes with Democrats.

King: Seeing Elon Musk on that stage with a chainsaw and dark glasses and a big grin. Well, come on, have a little, just a smidgen of empathy maybe. And to, to obviously enjoy it, I think that’s a real problem

Even worse, he says DOGE poses a Constitutional threat.

King: Well, the perfect example is the first, almost the first weekend of the administration when DOGE shut down AID. AID is a program created by Congress. It was, and the same thing with the Department of Education, and the same thing with the independent agencies. Congress created those agencies. If the president wants to get rid of them, you come to Congress, they pass a bill and say, we’re gonna get rid of Department of Education or whatever, whatever it is. The president, no matter who it is, doesn’t get to choose and say, ‘I don’t like this program, so we’re not gonna fund it. I like this one, so we’re gonna fund it, maybe move some money.’ That’s not the way it works. If all power ends up in one set of hands, that’s dangerous. That’s where liberty starts to disappear. And that’s what is really bothering me about this.

Republican Marjorie Taylor Greene doesn’t see DOGE as a Constitutional threat—

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (Congressional hearing): This hearing of the Subcommittee on Delivering on Government Efficiency will come to order.

Greene: I’m 100% aligned with Elon, DOGE, and President Trump.

Greene heads up a Congressional subcommittee created to work with the White House DOGE office. She says the danger comes if overspending isn’t addressed.

Greene: From how I, where I see it, this is a, this is a threat to literally everyone in the country’s future. This is a threat. If we do not fix the $36 trillion debt that grows every single year, because everyone hears $36 trillion and they’re like, ‘oh, it’s a lot of money.’ But there’s compounding interest every single year. And this year’s compounding interest on top of 36 trillion is going to be close to $1 trillion bigger than our military budget. And so, from my perspective, this requires action.

Agencies in the crosshairs of DOGE for significant cuts or elimination so far include: US Agency for International Development, the US Institute of Peace, US African Development Foundation, Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service, Woodrow Wilson Center, Department of Education, Consumer Financial Prediction Bureau, and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

But no agencies have been fully closed, due largely to legal challenges and Congressional barriers.

Sharyl: What is your take so far on how much DOGE can do, obviously meeting up with challenges, and I think even behind the scenes from some Republicans who may publicly support the efforts— but not really want things cut?

Greene Right.

Sharyl: What is your take so far on progress made versus progress stalled?

Greene: Yeah, that’s a deep question. So DOGE in concept is the most common sense non-political thing you can do in Congress. It’s actually what we should be doing anyways. It’s so simple on its face. And that’s why I love it. So here in Congress, it’s, it’s very complicated. We have a lot of members of Congress who the only way they can raise money is through lobbyists with their causes and their industries they represent. So, they will guard those with their life or their career, their political career, we should say. And then there’s a, a lot of our Republican colleagues and Democrats too. Now, Democrats don’t want to agree with anything DOGE, because they can’t, it seems to be the sworn enemy. Elon Musk and DOGE is sworn enemy of, of the Democrat party right now. But they’re struggling with it because they actually agree with a lot of it.

Sharyl (on-camera): DOGE is scheduled to “delete itself” as Musk has said— or dissolve— on July 4 next year, on America’s 250th birthday.

Watch video here.