President-elect Donald Trump, center, sits with, left to right, businessman Howard Lutnick; Iowa U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst; Ernst chief of staff Lisa Goeas; and billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk at Mar-a-Lago, Trump’s Florida estate, last weekend. Ernst gave Musk a letter about suggested cuts in government spending. (Photo courtesy of Ernst office).
WASHINGTON — Iowa Republican Sen. Joni Ernst began proposing ways to cut government spending to the Trump team this weekend, but she’ll need to convince her colleagues in Congress if her ideas are going to have any chance of taking effect — like ending the manufacture of pennies and nickels and curbing overpayments for Pentagon goods.
Ernst, chair of the newly created government efficiency caucus in the Senate, hand-delivered her letter to President-elect Donald Trump this weekend at Mar-a-Lago in Florida, according to her office.
She also gave copies of the letter to Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, the two close Trump allies picked to drastically cut government spending through the so-called Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE.
“When faced with proposals to trim the fat from Washington’s budget, members of Congress from both parties act like Goldilocks,” Ernst wrote in the letter. “It’s too little or too big, always too hard, and never just right. But the real ‘make-believe’ of this fairy tale is that it’s impossible to reduce Washington’s budget without causing pain.”
The Department of Government Efficiency isn’t really a federal department, since Congress hasn’t voted to create or fund it. And, in general, the executive branch is limited in its ability to increase or decrease federal spending without Congress’ approval.
Trump tried to get around Congress’ authority over spending during his first term, but was largely unsuccessful due to the Impoundment Control Act, a 1974 law that prevents a president from withholding money that Congress has approved.
The nonpartisan Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget notes in a detailed explainer on the law that in 2019 Trump “was accused of violating the ICA by withholding $214 million in security assistance funding for Ukraine.”
“Allegedly, the Trump Administration was attempting to coerce Ukraine into investigating his political opponents in the run-up to the 2020 election,” CRFB wrote. “This accusation, which was eventually backed by an independent ruling from the Government Accountability Office, became the premise for the House’s impeachment of President Trump in December 2019. The Trump Administration eventually released its hold on the funds in question.”
If Trump tries to prevent the federal government from spending money Congress has provided, lawsuits likely would result, possibly putting the issue before the conservative-leaning Supreme Court.
Congress could also seek to repeal or amend the 1974 law, but would need to find the votes in the House and Senate to do so. Lawmakers would likely want to consider how a Republican Congress changing the law to help a Republican president could be used by a future Democratic administration.
‘Living high off the hog’
Ernst’s letter pitches about $1 trillion in spending cuts to Musk and Ramaswamy, even though they do not have and will not have the constitutional authority to cut any federal spending if the DOGE remains outside the government.
Ernst wrote in the letter that her efforts to reduce government spending during her tenure in the Senate have been “a very lonely fight” since both “Democrats and Republicans always come together in agreement over one issue: living high off the hog.”
Ernst established the DOGE Caucus earlier this month to push for specific spending cuts after Trump takes office on Jan. 20, 2025.
North Carolina’s Ted Budd, Texans John Cornyn and Ted Cruz, Oklahoma’s James Lankford, Utah’s Mike Lee, Kansan Roger Marshall, Ohio’s Bernie Moreno, Missouri’s Eric Schmitt, Florida’s Rick Scott and Alaska’s Dan Sullivan have all joined the group that’s made up of Republican senators.
In her letter, Ernst sought several spending cuts, including to the Defense Department, taking an approach similar to that in years past of the senior Republican senator from Iowa, Chuck Grassley.
“The Pentagon has never passed an audit and is unable to fully account for its budget. By its own estimates, DoD wastes $125 billion on bloated bureaucracy and inefficiency,” Ernst wrote. “DoD could save $527 million just by streamlining the duplication and unnecessary overlap within its storage and distribution centers. DoD overpayments are legendary and the department is still overpaying nearly $1 million for spare parts. This includes a nearly 8,000 percent mark-up for a soap dispenser than the shelf price and $1,220 for a coffee cup.”
Ernst wrote that someone should also address bonuses paid to government contractors.
“The Pentagon is paying millions of dollars in unearned bonuses, including $10.6 million to a contractor that created ‘a life and safety concern’ for airmen by failing to provide the necessary parts for jets,” she wrote.
Ernst is a member of the Armed Services Committee, which drafts the Pentagon’s annual policy bill called the National Defense Authorization Act. But she isn’t a member of the Appropriations Committee, which puts together the annual Defense spending bill.
Office space, pennies and nickels
The federal government, she wrote, should consolidate office space to reflect that many workers no longer head into a physical office five days a week.
“The government also owns 7,697 vacant buildings and another 2,265 that are partially empty,” Ernst wrote. “An additional $14 million is being spent leasing underutilized space and nearly $1 million more for its maintenance.”
The federal government should stop manufacturing pennies and nickels, which Ernst wrote cost more than they are worth. Instead, the government should change the “composition of the coins.”
Ernst wrote at the end of the letter she would send more suggestions to Musk and Ramaswamy in the future.