D.C. Dispatch: Ernst praises DOGE, calls for USAID oversight
While opponents say actions taken by the U.S. Department of Government Efficiency, headed by billionaire Elon Musk, are unconstitutional, U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst defended Musk and DOGE in Congress this week saying these efforts are uncovering wasteful federal spending.
Ernst is the DOGE Caucus Chair in the U.S. Senate and has been a key advocate in Congress for the advisory body. As protests have rallied against Musk and DOGE personnel's steps to shutter the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), after breaking into agency headquarters and telling employees earlier in February to prepare for administrative leave, Ernst said an investigation into how funds were appropriated by USAID was overdue.
Ernst at a U.S. Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs hearing Thursday pointed to areas of USAID funding that she said were examples of wasteful spending. She criticized expenditures like $27 million appropriated to the International Organization for Migration, a United Nations organization, for assisting migrants as they returned from the U.S. to some Central American countries. She said spending included 'reintegration bags' to migrants that had non-essential items like a Barbie doll, or nearly $69,000 for Battery Dance Corporation to hold 'Dancing to Connect' workshops in Wuhan, China, as a public diplomacy program.
'The question that we really should be asking at this point isn't why USAID's grants are being scrutinized, but why it took so long,' Ernst said.
Ernst said she did not believe all groups receiving support from USAID were corrupt, but asked lawmakers to 'imagine how much more good work could be done' if funding was more appropriately allocated.
Ernst sent a letter to Secretary of State Marco Rubio last week saying she has faced situations in years past where USAID has obstructed oversight efforts, writing 'it is of the utmost importance to conduct a full and independent analysis of the recipients of USAID assistance.' She said the American people support these efforts as shown through President Donald Trump's victory in the 2024 general election.
'Americans are no longer willing to tolerate a status quo where federal agencies, managing billions in taxpayer funds, pursue a counter-productive and potentially anti-American agenda abroad with no accountability,' Ernst wrote. 'I support the President's efforts to achieve government efficiency and rein in unelected bureaucrats. USAID is culpable for decades of unchecked, outlandish expenditures and that behavior must end now.'
Multiple lawsuits are challenging DOGE, with some lawsuits seeking to curtail DOGE personnel's access to individuals' personal information through the U.S. Treasury's payment system while others say Musk's assertion of authority through DOGE, established via executive order, is unconstitutional because he was not appointed as a member of Trump's executive branch with approval from the U.S. Senate.
In an interview with Fox Business News' Larry Kudlow Monday, Ernst praised Trump and Musk's efforts, saying DOGE and Trump's administration are working on issues she tried to tackle through her 'squeal' work finding areas to cut federal spending.
'Without this disruption, it would have been business as usual,' Ernst said. 'I would have gone on pushing out my squeal reports with nobody in the White House to really grab hold of it. So I'm thankful for the President. I am thankful that Elon Musk has taken on this additional duty on top of everything else he does to really focus on cost savings and efficiencies for our American taxpayers.'
In the U.S. House, Reps. Zach Nunn and Ashley Hinson praised the passage of legislation they say will help small businesses struggling with new reporting requirements.
Nunn introduced the 'Protect Small Business from Excessive Paperwork Act' in January. The bill revises requirements set in the 2020 Corporate Transparency Act requiring businesses to report beneficial ownership information in an effort to identify shell companies used by terrorist and criminal organizations. However, Nunn said surveys by the National Federation of Independent Businesses (NFIB) found that many small businesses never learned of the new reporting requirements that took effect on Jan. 1, 2024.
According to the National Small Business Association, first-year compliance costs for the reporting requirements will cost the average small business owner nearly $8,000. A news release from Nunn said that as of Jan. 1, 2025, millions of small businesses that have not yet filed the needed reports are facing daily fines of up to $591 and up to two years in jail because of the requirements.
The legislation introduced by Nunn will extend the filing deadline for these reports to Jan. 1, 2026 for small businesses and require the Treasury Department to educate businesses about the new reporting requirements. Nunn said the measure is necessary to protect small businesses that are facing major problems implementing these new 'red tape' requirements.
'Bureaucrats in D.C. sit in their ivory towers, demanding businesses comply with onerous red tape, without considering the burden it puts on businesses,' Nunn said. 'By passing this legislation, we're taking a step forward to roll back unnecessary regulations and simplify requirements for job creators while still adhering to the law.'
The bill passed the U.S. House unanimously Monday.
Hinson praised the bill's passage in a news release and called for further action to repeal the 2020 law, having cosponsored the 'Repealing Big Brother Overreach Act' to reverse changes made by the Corporate Transparency Act.
'It's past time to end the obsessive regulations on our small business community,' Hinson said in a statement. '… End the ridiculous paperwork and regulatory regime, unleash jobs and economic growth—it's that simple.'
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