Musk and Republicans discuss package to vote on DOGE cuts as shutdown looms

WASHINGTON — Elon Musk met with Senate Republicans for nearly two hours in a closed-door lunch meeting Wednesday, seeking to reassure them amid voter angst over the sweeping cuts his Department of Government Efficiency is making.

They discussed a “rescission” package that the White House could send to Congress to codify his cuts through a measure that can get around the 60-vote hurdle, in order to get around legal challenges to the administration’s power to act unilaterally.

“To me, it’s ephemeral now. I love all the stuff they’re doing, but we got to vote on it. So, my message to Elon was, let’s get over the impoundment idea, and let’s send it back as a rescission package,” Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., told reporters. “Because then what we have to do is lobby to get to 51 senators, or 50 senators to cut the spending.”

Multiple senators said that Musk was surprised to learn there was a viable legislative pathway to making DOGE’s cuts permeant. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said Musk was “so happy” when he heard the news, telling reporters Musk pumped his fists and danced.

He backed the idea that Paul raised.

“It’s time for the White House now to go on offense. We’re losing altitude. You know, we started off straight good,” Graham said. “We need to get back in the game on offense. And the way you can regain altitude is to take the work product, get away from the personalities and the drama, take the work product and vote on it.”

The discussion came as Musk’s activities loom as a sticking point in negotiations to keep the government open and prevent a shutdown next Friday, March 14. Democrats need to sign off on such a bill, and they have accused the White House of usurping Congress’s power by unilaterally slashing spending directed by law.

Hours earlier, the Supreme Court ruled to reject the Trump administration’s request to freeze billions in foreign aid. Paul said his message to Elon was to “get over the impoundment idea” and work with Congress to make DOGE’s spending cuts permanent.

Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., said there were “a lot of numbers tossed around” in the meeting. But he noted that Musk didn’t give Republican senators an overall dollar figure on how much he expects DOGE to save, or how much money would be cut in a potential rescission package sent to Congress.

During a meeting with White House chief of staff Susie Wiles last week, several GOP senators raised concerns about being out of the loop on DOGE’s work. Republican lawmakers in both chambers have faced heated town halls and pushback from voters who are negatively impacted by recent federal layoffs and cuts.

Though he ignored shouted questions from reporters walking in and out of the room, Musk fielded an array of questions from Republican senators inside — and even gave them his personal cell phone number, said Sen. John Hoeven, R-N.D.

“All we hear is about the savings or the cutting. They don’t hear about him wanting to make people more productive, systems more productive, and have them in jobs where they actually do better,” Hoeven said after the meeting. “And give better service. And that’s the part people don’t hear about.”

Hoeven said Musk should consider giving his number to Democratic senators as well and engaging in a dialogue with them.

“Yeah, might be worth a try,” Hoeven said.

Musk was also set to meet with House Republicans at the Capitol Wednesday evening. Rep. Aaron Bean, R-Fla., co-chair of the House’s Congressional DOGE Caucus, said they were working to arrange a smaller meeting with Musk prior to the larger conference meeting. 

“Some of our members are concerned of how it’s gone a little bit,” Bean said of the DOGE effort. “But I think it’s exciting, I think the president laid out a plan last night.”

The White House has also stepped up its outreach to Congress on government funding. Trump met with a group of conservative hardliners at the White House on Wednesday afternoon, while Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought joined the weekly House Freedom Caucus meeting on Monday to sell members on a yearlong continuing resolution.

House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., has been working to convince conservatives to support a yearlong stopgap spending bill that doesn’t codify DOGE cuts. Johnson attended a conservative Republican Study Committee (RSC) lunch on Wednesday, where he made the case that they need more time to tally up all the cuts.

“The speaker gave the reality of the situation. … The reality is that this is really the only option for us,” RSC Chairman August Pfluger, R-Texas, told reporters after the lunch. “I don’t think we know all the information yet, and we certainly won’t know it before March 14. We do want to capture those [DOGE] savings. But this gives us the opportunity to continue to negotiate those specific bills.” 

And there are signs that the usual pockets of opposition are melting.

Rep. Andy Harris, R-Md., the chair of the House Freedom Caucus, predicted after the meeting with Trump that they would be able to pass a year-long stopgap funding bill with the support of only Republicans.

It’s a tall order — Republicans have a majority of 218-214, meaning they can only lose one vote to pass a bill without Democrats. Scores of GOP lawmakers routinely vote against government funding bills. And one Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., is already firmly against the idea of a continuing resolution.

“I’ll vote against a clean CR that funds everything in 2025 at 2024 levels,” Massie said Tuesday on X.