He’s throwing DOGE a bone. House Speaker Mike Johnson unveiled his game plan to enshrine into law the cuts pursued by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) after conservative

backlash against Republicans for failing to do so. Johnson (R-La.) explained that the GOP-led House will codify the DOGE cuts via its normal appropriations process in the fall and through a

rescission package to claw back money that the government hasn’t used. “The House is eager and ready to act on DOGE’s findings so we can deliver even more cuts to big government that

President Trump wants and the American people demand,” Johnson wrote on X Wednesday. “We will do that in two ways: 1. When the White House sends its rescissions package to the House, we will

majorities in both chambers. Over recent days, a handful of grassroots conservatives began grumbling at House Republicans for not codifying the DOGE cuts. This led to criticism from

prominent GOP officials such as Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. “To see Republicans in Congress cast aside any meaningful spending reductions (and, in fact, fully fund things like USAID) is

demoralizing and represents a betrayal of the voters who elected them,” DeSantis swiped on social media Tuesday. Tech baron Elon Musk later responded to a user complaining about the lack of

codification, saying, “Did my best.” Multiple Republican lawmakers have since taken note of the pushback. Rep. Cory Mills (R-Fla.) touted legislation he introduced to codify the DOGE cuts.

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), who chairs a DOGE subcommittee, announced that “we are going to see the first DOGE cuts bill on Monday.” DOGE claims it has saved over $175 billion —

roughly $1,087 per taxpayer — but that estimate is heavily disputed and several analyses have found the savings to be overstated. Fueling some of the conservative blowback has been House

Republicans’ victory lap after passing the One Big Beautiful Bill Act through the lower chamber last week, something many observers did not believe would happen by leadership’s Memorial Day

deadline. The megabill features Trump’s sweeping agenda on tax cuts, energy reform, border security and more. It also entails over $1.5 trillion in estimated spending cuts over a 10-year

period. Conservative critics griped that the DOGE cuts weren’t included in that mammoth package, but Johnson explained that they’re largely legislatively precluded from inclusion. “DOGE

found savings in discretionary spending (such as funding agencies), while our One Big Beautiful Bill secured over $1.6 trillion in savings in mandatory spending (such as Medicaid),” Johnson

stressed. “Both are HISTORIC and take HUGE steps toward addressing our debt and deficit.” In order to get the gigantic Trump agenda package through the Senate, Republicans are utilizing the

chamber’s budget reconciliation process, an onerous method that allows them to sidestep a Democratic filibuster, which would require 60 votes to break (Republicans have 53). After

Republicans get the Big Beautiful Bill to Trump’s desk, the next big legislative battle will be over appropriations, an issue that has long plagued GOP leadership and led to the ouster of

former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy in 2023. Johnson’s game plan reveal for codifying the DOGE cuts also comes after Musk lashed out at congressional Republicans, particularly over the One

Big Beautiful Bill Act’s impact on the deficit, which could add $3.1 trillion to the debt over the next 10 years, according to the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget. “I was, like,

disappointed to see the massive spending bill, frankly, which increases the budget deficit, not just decrease it, and undermines the work that the DOGE team is doing,” Musk told CBS’ “Sunday

Morning” in an interview that will air in full this Sunday.