Horsford takes unlikely role in GOP-heavy House DOGE Caucus

Editor's note: Este artículo está traducido al español.

Nevada U.S. Rep. Steven Horsford is one of two Democrats remaining in a House caucus that was created after billionaire Elon Musk was tasked to head President Donald Trump’s government efficiency initiatives.

The House Delivering Outstanding Government Efficiency (DOGE) Caucus is one of the new approaches Congress is trying to use to navigate its relationship with Musk, who sprung into his role leading the group without the Senate confirmation necessary for presidential-appointed officers.

For Horsford, joining the Republican-led caucus wasn’t about aligning with Musk or Trump’s agenda, but agreeing on the core principle that inefficiency should be weeded out of the government.

The bipartisan group was formed to work with the administration to identify wasteful spending in the federal government.

“There are areas that we need to modernize and make improvements and to root out waste, fraud and abuse, so let’s look at those,” Horsford said. “For example, there are corporate subsidies that we should look at. There are Elon Musk contracts, let’s look at those.”

The caucus is co-chaired by Republican Reps. Aaron Bean of Florida, Pete Sessions of Texas and Blake Moore of Utah, with Rep. Jared Moskowitz of Florida as the only other Democrat.

Sessions says he has appreciated the approach Horsford brings to the caucus, which he described as listening to issues and seeking resolutions rather than simply engaging in arguments.

“Steven is there for the right reasons, and it means that he gains insight, and his voice matters,” Sessions said. “And I think he is a very mature, thoughtful guy on the high side of trying to do the right thing.”

Alongside the House caucus Horsford serves in, there is also a Senate DOGE Caucus and a separate House Delivering on Government Efficiency subcommittee led by Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga. A caucus is an informal organization in the House or Senate where members discuss and plan actions on their shared interests, while a committee exists to consider legislation, and conduct hearings and investigations.

That Greene-led subcommittee has eight Republican and six Democratic members. The committee’s makeup reflects the political makeup of the House, where the GOP enjoys a slim majority, 218-214 with three vacant seats.

Rep. Tim Burchett, R-Tenn., said much of the subcommittee’s focus was understanding what the Trump administration is proposing and, for the Republican majority, finding ways to make that permanent through legislation.

Horsford views the subcommittee as a largely partisan-driven effort with Greene, an outspoken, ultra-MAGA supporter of Trump, setting the tone.

“They’re having hearings, and it’s all about whatever Marjorie Taylor Greene decides at the moment,” Horsford said. “I joined a caucus of congressional members to discuss and seek common ground around ways to make government more efficient.”

Horsford and Moskowitz for a time were joined in the caucus by fellow Democrat Rep. Val Hoyle of Washington. She initially said she became a member to work toward a more streamlined government and “ensure there was a voice in the room for working people.” Last month, she left the caucus after deciding that mission was unachievable.

“It is impossible for us to do that important work when unelected billionaire Elon Musk and his lackeys are set on burning down the government — and the law,” Hoyle wrote in a statement upon her departure, “to line his own pockets and rip off Americans across the country who depend on government services to live with dignity.”

Musk has been a critical component of Trump’s efforts to reduce the federal workforce, spearheading the government efficiency unit the president created on his first day back in office.

Through an executive order, Trump renamed the decade-old government streamlining unit, the U.S. Digital Service, as the “U.S. DOGE Service” — leading over 20 employees to resign on the basis that Musk had overhauled the preexisting operations.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt called Musk a “special government employee,” which is an individual in the executive or legislative branch appointed to perform services for a maximum of 130 days during a consecutive 365-day period.

In that role, Musk faces different ethical requirements from other federal employees; one of the shared rules is abstaining from government affairs that would directly influence the worker’s financial interests.

That’s hardly the case, Democrats say.

They have harped on Musk’s billionaire status, claiming he is using his position as a means to serve his own best interests. Musk counters that he does his government work for free.

“The only unelected bureaucrat is Elon Musk,” Horsford said to constituents March 8 at a town hall. “And he is trying to get (wealthier) off the American taxpayer.”

When it comes to the Democratic response to DOGE’s work, Sessions says he understands why the party is sounding alarm bells — because Musk has worked so fast and in a way that isn’t always visible to constituents.

“In Congress, we’re the ones that need to be able to understand, to explain it,” Sessions said. “And the bottom line is, we’ve been working so far behind that we have not caught up properly with this issue, and so we’re struggling, and we admit it.”

Building a government that functions “in a positive fashion” is an alien concept for congressional members who have only served two terms or less because of the lack of interaction during the COVID-19 pandemic, Sessions said.

“We’re now turning around and trying to make this opportunity where we can work with and for the American people, and that comes at the same time we’re trying to explain the efficiency,” Sessions said. “This is a new world and we’re only 40 days into it.”

Musk has met with both Senate and House Republicans on Capitol Hill as recently as two weeks ago.

Horsford said he hadn’t met with Musk but added he would to. But he also said Republicans in the caucus weren’t eager to meet “because of all of the illegal actions” Musk and his minions in DOGE have taken with Trump’s blessing but with little to no oversight by the GOP-majority Congress.

Horsford remains committed to a more efficient government, but not at the expense of necessary services and not dictated by Musk, an unelected billionaire serving as a de facto federal department head without the constitutionally mandated advice and consent of the Senate.

“If he wants to cut offices here in Las Vegas, Social Security offices, he’s going to have to come through me,” Horsford said. “I’m elected. He’s not.”