Conservatives are worried that Congress won’t have the ‘spine’ to change more money after the DOGE meetings

Republicans have big plans to cut spending next year, but some GOP lawmakers doubt Congress can push for significant reforms.

Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, President-elect Trump tapped to lead the Department of Government Operations (DOGE), a panel that advises on cutting spending and the national debt, were on Capitol Hill Thursday for a series of meetings with lawmakers about how Congress and the White House can work together to achieve that goal.

And while that advisory panel is largely focused on what top steps to take, lawmakers agree that big, lasting change must be made through legislation. And some Republicans doubt they can get there.

“The problem is in that room,” said Rep. Tim Burchett, R-Tenn., referring to other GOP lawmakers who met with Musk and Ramaswamy.

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“These guys, you know, talk tough,” but they didn’t vote the way he believed they were willing to cut spending.

“You don’t see much of that. Now, when will that start? It will only start because Elon and Vivek. [address us]?” asked Burchett. “I’m just worried we’re going to lose steam. …We have to be brave, and people have to hold us accountable.”

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Retired Attorney General Dan Bishop, RN.C., told Fox News that “many members” stood up to suggest ways to “save money” during Thursday afternoon’s consultation session with Republicans and the DOGE duo.

“One would think that many of them would have agreed to vote, to vote on the floor of the House to do those things early,” Bishop added.

The DOGE negotiations opened long-standing wounds within the House GOP, whose members spent much of the 118th Congress fighting among themselves over how to deal with federal funding and other financial issues.

The national debt recently exceeded 36 billion dollars.

Rep. Chip Roy questioned whether fellow Republicans have the “spin” to pass spending reform. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

A top House GOP aide expressed optimism about the new goal but added that Musk and Ramaswamy were “looking for a fence.”

“The hard part is once they get the things they’re going to cut, I think it’s up to Congress to decide, right?” said the assistant.

Another senior GOP aide said, “The DOGE policy is appropriate and necessary, but nothing will change. We will not reduce our spending [have to] to get our fiscal house in order, and we will not reduce waste to any significant degree.”

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Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, who was also skeptical, told Republicans at Thursday’s meeting that they need to “grow some backbone” in order to actually remove meaningful spending cuts.

“I said to my colleagues, ‘If you can’t print money, if, in fact, it’s banned today, what can you do?’ You can do what you do with your household budget. You could say, ‘We can’t take a vacation here because I need to buy my baby some braces.’ WMAL broadcaster Larry O’Connor.

“We’re not doing that, and, until we do, all the DOGE waste-cutting in the world won’t help. We have to do both. We need to cut waste, but we need Congress to grow the backbone.”

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President-elect Trump has tapped Musk and Ramaswamy to lead DOGE. (Brandon Bell)

Some Republicans doubt that Musk and Ramaswamy have led the charge.

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“They didn’t have a game plan — a wish list that they gave to Santa and the American people that was far from being fulfilled,” one GOP lawmaker, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Fox News Digital at a Thursday meeting.

The GOP attorney called DOGE a “magic door created out of thin air,” and pointed out that its brand was heavily inspired by the cryptocurrency known as “dogecoin” that Musk has backed.

“They are there we’re going to run into a brick wall called ‘members of Congress don’t know how to do our job,'” the attorney said.