Press Releases

WASHINGTON — This afternoon, Speaker Johnson addressed assembled media prior to a meeting with Elon Musk, Vivek Ramaswamy, and Republican members and senators to brainstorm priorities for the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). 

Click here to watch Speaker Johnson’s remarks

Speaker Johnson’s remarks as delivered below:

This is an important day. It's the beginning of a journey. You've heard what DOGE is all about, the Department of Government Efficiency. It's a new thing, and this is a new day in Washington and a new day in America. 

We have long lamented the size and scope of the government, that it has grown too large. And let me be frank about this, government is too big, it does too many things, and it does almost nothing well.

And the taxpayers deserve better. They deserve a more responsive government, a more efficient government, a one that is leaner and more focused on its primary objectives. And that's the opportunity that we have here now. We believe it's an historic moment for the country, and these two gentlemen are going to help navigate through this exciting new day.

Elon and Vivek don't need much of an introduction here in Congress for certain, and most of the American people know what they're capable of and what they've achieved. Both of these gentlemen have run very successful organizations. They're innovators and they're forward thinkers. That’s what we need right now. 

And what you're going to have today, first is a meeting that we'll have here with decision makers, key figures in the Republican House and Senate who are chairs of committees of jurisdiction who deal with the money and financing of government and the structure of government. 

We’ll have chairs of the new DOGE caucuses that have been set up in the Senate and the House. And then after that, we'll proceed to the Congressional auditorium where all of the Senate Republicans and House Republicans have been invited. And I think many of them will gather for this discussion. 

So there won't be a lot of detail for the press today. And that's by design, because this is a brainstorming session. It is the first again, as I said, of a long series of meetings that will be held as we're laying the groundwork for the new year and the new Congress. And you're going to see a lot of change around here and in Washington and the way things are run. 

We need to make government more efficient. And that is what this whole objective is. That's what the DOGE effort will be about. And you're going to see a bicameral cooperation, and it will be, by the way, bipartisan. 

Over the last 24 or 48 hours, you've seen a number of our Democrat colleagues, both in the Senate and the House who have said, ‘you know what? Sign me up. I want to be a part of this as well.’ So we welcome that. It should be a bipartisan effort, and I think we're gonna do great things for the country.