BY ANNA KAMINSKI
Kansas Reflector
TOPEKA — U.S. Rep. Ron Estes and U.S. Sen. Roger Marshall, both Kansas Republicans, will join the caucuses supporting President-elect Donald Trump’s new Department of Government Efficiency.
Estes, who represents Kansas’ south-central 4th District, is set to be a member of the House Delivering Outstanding Government Efficiency, or DOGE, caucus, which has been envisioned as a vehicle for lawmakers to pitch budget cuts.
“DOGE will be another helpful tool to identify waste, fraud and abuse and rein in wasteful spending, ensuring the government serves as a responsible steward of taxpayer dollars,” Estes said in a Sunday newsletter.
Marshall is set to join the Senate DOGE caucus, chaired by Iowa Sen. Joni Ernst, who has already pitched $1 trillion in spending cuts to the Trump team.
“Enough is enough,” Marshall said in a Friday newsletter. “It’s past time for three letter agencies and unelected D.C. bureaucrats to come down to reality and remember ‘We the People’ sign their checks.”
Republicans from Florida and Texas launched the House DOGE caucus Nov. 19, selecting more than 30 members. Ernst followed with a seven-member Senate caucus.
Estes said he met last week with tech billionaire Elon Musk and former Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy to “brainstorm priorities.” Musk and Ramaswamy were Trump’s handpicked allies selected to lead the new department, which doesn’t technically exist without an act of Congress.
“It’ll take hard work,” Estes said, “but I am excited about the prospects of what DOGE can achieve to make government work for the people again.”
Estes called the federal government’s more than $36 trillion debt total “shameful and simply unsustainable.” He said he was glad to join the caucus to participate in addressing bureaucracy, excess regulations, wasteful spending and restructuring of federal agencies.
Peeling back regulations was of particular interest, Estes said. He blamed President Joe Biden’s administration for costly rulemaking and lauded the first Trump administration for cutting old regulations as new ones were added.