The small group of Capitol Hill spending cutters has been in the wilderness for decades, despite offering trillions of dollars of budget-cutting suggestions. They were ignored by the Democrats and Republicans who are united in their love of big-spending.

They have hope thanks to President-elect Donald Trump, his Department of Government Efficiency run by Elon Musk, and Vivek Raaswamy.

Spending cutters have flooded the DOGE with targets.

“I can give a list of things we should defund,” said Virginia Foxx, North Carolina Republican and Chair of the House Education and Workforce Committee.

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Sen. Joni Ernest, Iowa Republican, and founder of Senate’s DOGE Caucus, sent Mr. Musk, and Mr. Ramaswamy, a list of potential savings of $1 trillion.

Her ideas include closing down three train projects that are a drain on the budget in California, cutting bonuses for defense contractors who perform poorly and closing vacant federal office buildings due to generous telework policies.

“If you don’t see waste in Washington there is only one possible reason: You didn’t look,” said Ms. Ernst.

Rep. Greg Steube (Florida Republican) urged DOGE to reduce federally-funded testing of dogs and cats. He claimed that the research was unnecessary and incorrect.

The prospect of being heard by the next administration, after years of budget battles, is exciting for those who have fought them.

Joelle Cannon is a former employee of Sen. Tom Coburn’s deficit commission and Bowles-Simpson. She said, “It’s definitely the time.”

She said that the recent push for budget reductions was like “John the Baptist feeling” of being a voice crying in the wilderness. She said, “It appears that someone has plans to take action.”

Capitol Hill has failed to pass balanced budget amendments to the Constitution or reform entitlement spending.

The optimism is dampened by the questions of what exactly DOGE will do.

The better analogy, despite the “department’s” name, is a White House Commission. DOGE cannot do much more than identify problems and suggest solutions unless Congress gives it the power to do so.

The agency, with Mr. Ramaswamy and Mr. Musk at the helm as well as Mr. Trump in the background, could have a significant impact in overturning the inertia that big spenders exhibit.

In an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal last month, the two billionaires stated that their first target was to reduce $500 billion in annual spending on programs that Congress does not authorize. The Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), the federal workforce, and international aid are among their targets.

The federal government is looking to make changes that will stifle economic growth.

Last significant effort to correct the budget was made by the Simpson-Bowles Commission in 2010, a bipartisan commission that President Obama forged. The plan suggested a combination of new taxes and spending cuts that would have led to a $4 trillion reduction in deficits within the 10-year budget period. Both chambers of Congress rejected versions of the plan.

Ms. Cannon stated that the key to fiscal sanity was merely action and willpower.

She said, “We have had lists of reforms since 30 years.” “Nobody has ever done anything about any of them. It is hoped that the playbook will be ready soon. Update the numbers to fix the real problem.

Staffers in the House of Representatives said that Mr. Ramaswamy and Mr. Musk are planning a broad assault on spending, leveraging Congress and the White House as well as the courts.

Some of the suggestions made by lawmakers to the DOGE are reminiscent of politics, as they attempt to use the commission to achieve their long-term goals.

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene is the Georgia Republican who was appointed to lead a House Subcommittee that coordinates with the DOGE. She wants the spending on overseas bases, contracts for defense and foreign wars scrutinized.

Some of the ideas that have been repeated include using a cost-of living adjustment to limit Social Security spending growth and preventing those with incomes over a million dollars from claiming unemployment.