Speaker Mike Johnson announces Trump's first DOGE-inspired policy targeting federal workers

Speaker Mike Johnson promised a new DOGE policy will have a big impact on how Washington, D.C. will operate, promising a 'new day' for a government that is 'too big.'

The top House Republican held meetings with Donald Trump's Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) leaders Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy on Capitol Hill Thursday. 

The trio also appeared at a press event touting the formulation of a new House panel set up to run alongside DOGE to assist in its operations. 

'We have long lamented the size and scope of the government, that it has grown too large,' Johnson said at the event.

'Let me be frank about this, government is too big, it does too many things and it does almost nothing well.' 

Then the speaker announced a policy that is sure to shock federal workers across D.C. and beyond.

'One of the first things that i think you'll see is a demand from the new administration, and from all of us in Congress, that federal workers return to their desks.'

His announcement came just hours after a top Senate Republican unveiled a new bill that will give Trump's DOGE agency the tools and clear direction to hit the ground running on day one of the next administration.

Trump tapped Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy to 'dismantle' the $6.5 trillion bloated U.S. bureaucracy by heading the newly created DOGE last month.

They plan to cut wasteful regulations and spending by specifically targeting the number of federal government employees. 

Top Republican Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, is leading DOGE's aggressive plans on a new 'DOGE Caucus' being set up in the Senate. 

On the House side, Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., was tapped for a powerful job assisting DOGE by chairing a new congressional subcommittee. 

Ernst's first DOGE-related bill exclusively obtained by DailyMail.com, the REMOTE Act, will use software to monitor bureaucrats' computer use and require agency reports on the adverse impacts of telework. 

It will also provide key information on how to get D.C. back to work. 

Musk, along with his toddler X, and Ramaswamy are on Capitol Hill Thursday to meet with the lawmakers and get a plan in place heading into the next administration. 

DailyMail.com learned that Ernst will be pushing her new 60-page report outlining the most efficient ways for DOGE to root out abuse during their meeting. 

She found that only 6 percent of federal workers report in-person on a full-time basis. 

The new bill will ensure accountability of teleworking federal workers by requiring agencies to 'periodically review the network traffic generated by each such teleworking employee.'

It will collect the 'average number of logins made' by every employee and the average duration of their time spent on the computer network.

It will also collect the network traffic that workers generate.

With the GOP taking the majority in the Senate after the election last month, Ernst's bill has a better chance of passing in the next Congress. 

The meetings come as Trump's former chief of staff Mick Mulvaney said he hopes that Musk and Ramaswamy can fix the government after he 'failed miserably.'

Mulvaney said on Piers Morgan Uncensored this week that he was in charge of government restructuring during Trump's first term. 

But he 'failed miserably because everybody was against me,' he stated.

'The House, the Senate, even most of the agencies. I remember the secretary of defense was against the things the president wanted me to do.'

Mulvaney says he's hopeful Musk and Ramaswamy will be more successful in their pursuit. 

Last week, Ernst laid out 22 ways Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy can use their new agency DOGE to trim down the federal government.

A source told DailyMail.com that Ernst and Vivek met last week to discuss her ideas to slash $1 trillion immediately. 

She was also at Mar-a-Lago last Saturday meeting with Trump, Musk and Treasury pick Howard Lutnick, DailyMail.com reported first.

They plan to 'work hand in hand on cutting down the bureaucracy and reining in tax dollar abuse,' the source familiar with their discussion said.

The plan Ernst presented Vivek exclusively obtained by DailyMail.com lays out exactly how DOGE can quickly tackle the rising national debt by 'trimming the fat.'

Her first proposal is to address the massive issue of over 7,000 unused federal buildings wasting over $8 billion per year just in operations and leases. 

That includes getting federal workers back into the office after empty offices have cost American taxpayers billions of dollars.

According to a survey, 68 percent of 625,568 staff worked three or four days from home.

In addition to unused physical office space, employees are facing productivity challenges due to the impersonal nature of remote work. 

They've also been exposed for working from bathtubs, enjoying shooting pool, leaving early for happy hour and one who even collected a paycheck from jail.

And many have even scored what Ernst calls 'bogus bonuses' that 'reward poor performance.' 

Ernst's other top priorities include cutting taxpayer dollars going to 'sketchy' Chinese labs and exposing government 'boondoggle' projects wasting millions.

She also is calling for an audit of the IRS after finding that over 5,000 employees of the agency haven't been paying their own taxes. 

And there are still billions in unspent COVID relief funds that Ernst says should be re-routed to offset the growing national debt.

The Iowa senator also outlined the 'silly science' projects that Americans are funding with no real benefit.

That includes projects finding answers to 'how fast can a shrimp run on a treadmill' and 'where does it hurt most to be stung by a bee.'

In addition, there was a study conducted looking into if water tastes better out of the bottle or the toilet and about 'how long it takes for a panda to poop.'

Ernst says it didn't stop there as taxpayers funded a study investigating whether a sour cream and onion chip looks like Elvis Presley. 

'These might be fun to ask contestants on a game show, but the real question is: why are taxpayers supporting any of these studies?' questioned the lawmaker.

Musk said in a statement last week that DOGE will 'send shockwaves through the system, and anyone involved in Government waste, which is a lot of people!' 

Republicans have long complained about government over-spending and Trump touted that DOGE will accomplish its goals by July 4, 2026.

Trump pledged that the pair would help him 'dismantle' government bureaucracy and 'slash excess regulations, cut wasteful spending, and restructure Federal Agencies.'

'A smaller Government, with more efficiency and less bureaucracy, will be the perfect gift to America on the 250th Anniversary of The Declaration of Independence,' Trump said in the statement. 'I am confident they will succeed!'

Trump emphasized that the pair 'will provide advice and guidance from outside of Government' and 'drive large scale reform' by creating an 'entrepreneurial approach to Government never seen before.'   

Musk and Ramaswamy have become some of Trump's top allies in the tech bro community. DOGE itself is a play on the cryptocurrency Musk sent into the stratosphere by posting about it on Twitter (before he purchased and renamed it).

Musk officially endorsed Trump on the heels of the July 13 assassination attempt on the Republican at his Butler, Pennsylvania rally. 

The SpaceX, X and Tesla head joined Trump on the campaign trail on October 5 when the now president-elect returned to the Butler venue - memorably jumping around onstage. 

He put his money where his mouth was - offering a $1 million award each day to registered voters in battleground states. 

Musk was with Trump and his family members at their election night shindig at Mar-a-Lago and has since been seen in meetings with the president-elect as he figures out who's in his Cabinet.  

Ramaswamy is a Yale Law-educated entrepreneur who started Roivant Sciences Ltd. a decade ago, which uses technology to aid drug development and other healthcare needs. 

He wrote a popular book on the right: Woke, Inc.: Inside Corporate America's Social Justice Scam. 

Ramaswamy started out the 2024 election cycle by running for president himself - though stayed complimentary of the ex-president. 

Unlike candidates like New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson and former Rep. Will Hurd, who were decidedly anti-Trump in the 2024 Republican primary, Ramaswamy touted the 78-year-old's accomplishments in office. 

When Trump appeared to be the runaway favorite ahead of the early primaries, Ramaswamy never turned on the former president, like Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and former U.N. Amb. Nikki Haley, allowing him to have a comfortable place to land in the Trump 2.0 White House. 

Ramaswamy came in fourth place in the Iowa caucuses, suspending his campaign immediately afterward and endorsing Trump. 

Both Musk and Ramaswamy are billionaires - but Musk's net worth is estimated to be 304 billion and Ramaswamy is worth only one billion dollars. 

'Republican politicians have dreamed about the objectives of 'DOGE' for a very long time,' Trump said. 

'To drive this kind of drastic change, the Department of Government Efficiency will provide advice and guidance from outside of Government, and will partner with the White House and Office of Management & Budget to drive large scale structural reform, and create an entrepreneurial approach to Government never seen before.' 

Musk responded to the news by posting to X: 'The merch will be' and then typed out three fire emojis. 

Musk's selection came amid a flurry of other picks from the President elect as he began to set out his inner circle of loyal allies.