WASHINGTON: Billionaire Elon Musk arrived on Capitol Hill Tuesday and learned about something new \u2014 budget rescissions, an obscure legislative tool that could bring legal heft to his federal budget slashing effort and enshrine the cuts into law.
\nMusk joined a lunch meeting with Republican senators just hours after the Supreme Court issued a setback to the Trump administration\u2019s efforts to freeze some $2 billion in foreign aid funds as part of its sweeping shutdown of the US Agency for International Development. As he opened the private session, Musk led with a message urging Congress to act.
\nOver plates of fried catfish, senators explained how the White House could put the billions of dollars of savings he has amassed into what\u2019s called a budget rescissions package, and send it to Congress for a vote to rescind the funding. Musk seemed thrilled, they said.
\n\u201cHe was so happy,\u201d said Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, the Republican chairman of the Senate Budget Committee, who is among those championing the effort. \u201cHe didn\u2019t know.\u201d
\nThe proposal introduced a potential next phase of his Musk\u2019s Department of Government Efficiency efforts and comes at an important time. The Trump administration is fighting in court \u2014 and in the court of public opinion \u2014 over the budget cuts tearing through the federal government.
\nThe Trump administration and Republicans in Congress are eager to show voters that DOGE\u2019s actions are more than headlines of job losses and disruptions, but real savings as Musk\u2019s team roots out waste, fraud and abuse to help reduce the nation\u2019s staggering $2 trillion annual deficit.
\nIt also comes as the courts are looking skeptically at the legality of the Trump administration\u2019s actions and as lawmakers\u2019 town halls are being overrun by protesters pushing for answers as tens of thousands of federal workers are being fired.
\nSenate Majority Leader John Thune half-joked that he was a little worried after Musk gave out his cellphone number for senators to call with any concerns.
\n\u201cI thought, OK, his phone\u2019s going to start blowing up,\u201d Thune said on Fox News. \u201cHe might want to change his number.\u201d
\nSenators said Musk aide Katie Miller would be setting up a direct line they can also call with any questions or problems about the cuts.
\nSen. Josh Hawley, R-Missouri, said senators seemed to be asking for \u201cjust better communication, wanting to know what\u2019s going to happen next.\u201d
\nBut Hawley said, \u201cI don\u2019t know that anyone at the White House knows what\u2019s going to happen next.\u201d He said Musk\u2019s team seems to \u201cjust kind of go from one thing to the next.\u201d
\nIt was Sen. Rand Paul, R-Kentucky, who introduced the idea of using budget rescissions during the lunch meeting.
\n\u201cI love what Elon is doing. I love the cutting into waste. I love finding all the crazy crap that we\u2019re spending overseas,\u201d Paul said afterward.
\n\u201cBut to make it real, to make it go beyond the moment of the day, it needs to come back in the form of a rescission package,\u201d he said.
\nThe libertarian-leaning senator has long stood as among the most persistent budget hawks in the Senate, one who routinely votes against federal spending bills. He said he\u2019s planning to oppose the federal funding package that\u2019s expected next week, which is needed to prevent a federal government shutdown when money expires March 14.
\nPaul said he explained to Musk that after the morning Supreme Court ruling, the administration should drop its plans to claw back federal funds through what\u2019s called impoundments. The courts do not seem inclined to accept the legal arguments being presented challenging the Nixon-era Impoundment Control Act.
\nInstead, Paul said, \u201cMy message to Elon was, let\u2019s get over the impoundment idea and let\u2019s send it back as a rescission.\u201d
\nSenators said it was unclear how big the rescission packages could be \u2014 Paul suggested several packages of at least $100 billion in federal cuts \u2014 or how soon they might push ahead with any voting if the White House sends them to Capitol Hill.
\nMusk has previously told lawmakers he envisions DOGE can save some $1 trillion in the federal government this year alone.
\nThune and other GOP leaders did not immediately make any comments on the rescission plans.
\nWhile a rescission package can be approved in the Senate by a simple majority vote with an expedited process that would enable the Republican majority to maneuver around a potential filibuster by Democrats, it may be easier said then done.
\nSenators on the Appropriations Committee are likely to pan the idea of spending cuts that would essentially go against legislation they had already approved to fund the government, as would those who may want to preserve federal funding for certain home-state industries or programs that are important to constituents.
\nEven with a GOP majority, it could be difficult to keep all Republicans unified on a vote, especially if all Democrats are opposed.
\nGraham, the Budget chairman, sees the process as a way \u201cfor the White House to go on offense.\u201d
\n\u201cWe\u2019re losing altitude,\u201d he said. \u201cWe need to get back in the game, on offense, and the way you can regain altitude is to take the work product \u2014 get away from the personalities and the drama \u2014 take the work product and vote on it.\u201d
\nAbsent from the lunch meeting with Musk was much discussion about the federal workers who are now out of work after the DOGE cuts.
\n\u201cAny time there\u2019s a transition, it\u2019s difficult,\u201d Paul said.
\nThe senator said several people spoke up to make sure \u201cwe\u2019re not just getting rid of people that we actually need, and that we are not overdoing it.\u201d
\nStill, Paul said: \u201cWe do need a smaller government. We do need less federal workers.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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