Op-Ed: Rep. Beth Van Duyne: Embracing the Golden Age of DOGE

$36 trillion of national debt doesn’t just happen by accident.

It happens because of poor decision making, catastrophes, lack of courage, laziness of bureaucrats, vast amounts of institutional grift and corruption, and weak-willed politicians too enamored with “the system” to take the kind of action necessary to prevent us from the crushing burden of the largest national debt in the world.

When I served as Mayor of a top 100 city in America, we crafted a balanced budget every year, not only because it was the right thing to do, but also because it was mandated by our city charter. Each year, the budget discussions were tense, every city department always “needed more money,” but our dollars were finite, and tough decisions had to be made. If only Congress was constrained in just the same way.

Since President Donald Trump has retaken office, his Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has exposed monumentally corrupt spending. And DOGE has not even begun to focus on the largest federal programs and agencies, where they will soon reveal the kind of waste, fraud, and abuse that everyone in America knows exists. Many of us are grateful for this effort enabled by President Trump and yet, many others are now fighting tooth and nail to prevent more of this egregious spending from being exposed — likely because there are politicians and bureaucrats who are complicit in working against the direct interests of our nation.

$1.5 million to “advance diversity equity and inclusion in Serbia’s workplaces and business communities.”

$70,000 for production of a “DEI musical” in Ireland.

$2.5 million for electric vehicles for Vietnam.

$47,000 for a “transgender opera” in Colombia.

$32,000 for a “transgender comic book” in Peru.

$2 million for sex changes and “LGBT activism” in Guatemala.

$6 million to fund tourism in Egypt.

Despite the outrage against cutting the bloated federal leviathan, President Trump and his cabinet of patriots have the will to see this through and ensure the hard working, overtaxed American people can get back to keeping more of what they earn to deservedly enjoy lives of growth, opportunity, and prosperity.

Unfortunately, Elon Musk, DOGE, and leaders of President Trump’s grim determination will not be at the helm forever. We talk about a “Golden Age” because we are living in a moment where the resolve of the Executive Branch matches the will of the American people in such a way that massive reform can, and must, be brought about to save the future of generations to come. This is our moment to achieve cathartic reforms, but we need to also put in place controls so that when this moment passes, there are protections to prevent this kind of debt calamity from ever occurring again.

That is why I have reintroduced the Government Offices Realignment and Closure Act (GORAC Act) to establish a process that will repeatedly be available to cut wasteful spending, slash the bureaucracy, and ensure our national debt never again reaches heights to threaten the stability of our country.

Americans want major reforms to cut government spending and get rid of unneeded, duplicative, and inefficient programs in the federal government. My bill will codify a regularly occurring process for Congress to identify inefficient, wasteful, and outdated functions within federal agencies while setting up fast-tracking procedures for consideration of recommendations from a third-party auditor. All savings will then be used exclusively to pay down our national debt, helping us deliver on our promise to slash the size, scope, and cost of the federal government.

GORAC will require the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to contract with a non-federal auditor for a thorough report exposing redundant, inefficient, wasteful, or outdated functions within federal executive agencies. Every ten years, the auditor’s findings will be reported to Congress and, as outlined in the bill, recommendations will be considered under fast-tracking procedures on the floor thereby establishing a process for Congress to directly confront government bloat, corruption, and cowardice.

While we budget hawks, and those who truly want to resize the federal government, celebrate the era of DOGE, we must also look ahead and entrench controls for us to prevent the grotesque indulgence of ludicrous spending and expanse of federal power. Similar to what we had in local government, GORAC forces Congress to responsibly deal with reality and meet the challenge of properly funding the government to live within the means of revenue generated by the hard work, productivity, and ingenuity of the American people whom we serve. We owe it to them, their families, and their children to end the repeated budget failures of Congress and embark on a new, fiscally and morally sound path that empowers American greatness for the next 250 years.

Rep. Beth Van Duyne represents Texas’s 24th District in Congress.