Posted on 12/08/2024 10:18:40 AM PST by John Semmens
Representative Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif) appeared on CNN's "Newsroom" to declare that "the proposed Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), is both unconstitutional and illegal. Congress is the body that has control of the 'purse strings.' We decide how much to spend and on what. Musk and Ramaswamy won't even be part of the government, per se. They can't tell us what to do or not do. The word 'efficiency' appears nowhere in the Constitution. It is not part of our job and no one can force us to be efficient."
Vivek Ramaswamy, co-director of DOGE pointed out that "neither does the word waste appear in the Constitution, but Congress has wasted trillions of the taxpayers money on useless and corrupt expenditures. Our job at DOGE will be to shine a light on the plentiful examples of this waste in the hope that sensible members of that body will do their duty to reduce and eliminate these examples or explain to their constituents why this waste must be continued."
"As a first example, only 6% of federal workers show up for work at the extensive offices provided for them," Ramaswamy observed. "About one-third of federal workers are on permanent 'remote status.' First question: if so much of the work can be done at home, why do we need to spend so much operating and maintaining unneeded space? Second question: how is the remote work being measured? Are employees diligently on task and efficiently using their time? Or are they wasting significant amounts of time on non-work diversions? DOGE will analyze this and present options for improving efficiency and reducing waste. Congress will have the option of adopting these options or explaining to their constituents why the waste must continue."
Lofgren rejected "Ramaswamy's naive conception of how government functions. Government Bureaucracy has been accreting for generations. Once employees become vested in their positions it is virtually impossible to dislodge them for incompetence or shirking. It would take an act of Congress to overcome this. Since most of these federal workers vote Democrat, what is our incentive to take such action? It looks like Mr. Ramaswamy is checkmated before DOGE even begins its analyses."
Meanwhile, Biden's outgoing commissioner of the Social Security Administration, Martin J. O'Malley, just agreed to a new deal that allows the federal workers assigned to work at home during the Covid-19 era to stay home until December 31, 2029. "Keeping our employees healthy is more important than keeping them busy," he said
In related Constitution news, the township council of Edison in New Jersey's ban on using "props," including the Constitution and the US flag, by residents when they speak at the council meetings spurred outrage. Resident Joel Bassoff attempted to speak saying "I'm holding up an American flag to represent the constitutional values." Council President Nishith Patel angrily banged his gavel and ordered police to remove Bassoff from the room. Patel explained that "a US flag is hanging on a pole right behind me at these meetings. There is no need for anyone to bring his own flag except as a means for defying my authority to run the meetings as I deem fit. And for the record, Mr. Bassoff was not arrested. He was merely ejected."
Oh NOW they’re all concerned about the Constitution.
More Leftist nonsense - “It’s unconstitutional to enforce the Constitution as written and originally understood and intended.”
want to piss off a liberal Congress critter? just keep them on the subject of “the Constitution” as soon as it comes up. amazing how much they don’t know just how much they DON’T know about the document they have sworn to uphold.
Every damn move Pedo Joe made while he was playing King of the Rings in Washington was ILLEGAL AND UNCONSTITUTIONAL. EVERY DAMN THING!
Zoe seems to have the solution. Spend more money.
If they all worked(?) from home, then our visitors from south of the border could move into these buildings.
...and therein is the problem. You clowns in DC have no control on spending. Two minutes after he takes office, I'd love to see Trump hold a press conference and announce:
As of tomorrow morning, every Federal agency except the military and Social Security, will see their budgets cut by 10%. Those savings will be immediately applied to the debt. Administrators will be expected to provide equal or better service than before. If you cannot do this, I will find someone who can. Have a nice day.
As was 95% of everything they, the Marxists, have imposed on us for the past 110 years...
Lofgren is an idiot. The legislature’s job is to allocate and apportion funds to programs that are run by the executive branch. It’s up to the executive branch how (or whether) to spend it.
That ditzo has some nerve telling Vivek and Elon that they don’t know how the government works.
Just like the lobbyists who tell you what to do, Zoe.
In Rat Party speak “Unconstitutional & Illegal” = very,very scary!
I know this is just your semi-satire but this must be based on something that puddinghead Lofgren said.
Hey Lofgren. Shut your chowdermaker. It’s not illegal or unconstitutional to form a non-governmental agency that gives advice to president.
The major requirement on congressional spending is to provide balanced budget!
We cannot, forever, spend beyond our means!
So, we need to cut something like a +trillion out of our spending, NOW!
If Zoe has some ideas how to do it, she can present them to vote!
But cutting spending is a must, and CAGE is the best way to do it, from anything suggested so far!
Actually, 10% cut is too little, too late!
Do it anyway and let them get pissed off...
First the budget is created by OMB working with the agencies and provided to Congress. The useless twits in Congress don’t do much except shift / add pork, and delete funds to politically hated orgs. Second, the President has to sign the budget, and third the President controls the agencies that execute the budget. Zoe knows this and spewing filth sucked up from the streets of San Francisco.
It's more than a bully pulpit. He directs what the agencies can and cannot ask for in the budget and he can direct the rules they operate under.
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