And then Roger Zachheim, Washington Director of the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Institute, on the 2024 Reagan National Defense Survey, and it's finding a record high number of Americans in favor of more U .S. engagement and leadership in international affairs.
C -SPAN's Washington Journal.
Join in the conversation live at 7 Eastern Monday morning on C -SPAN, C -SPAN Now, or online at c -span .org.
The House will be in order.
This year, C -SPAN celebrates 45 years of covering Congress like no other.
Since 1979, we've been your primary source for Capitol Hill, providing balanced, unfiltered coverage of government, taking you to where the policies debated and decided, all with the support of America's cable companies.
C -SPAN, 45 years and counting.
Powered by cable.
House Speaker Mike Johnson talked about the incoming Department of Government Efficiency before meeting with its nominated leaders, Elon Musk and former GOP presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy.
Will you take a question, Mr. Musk?
Welcome, everybody.
What?
We're all excited.
I know you're all excited that Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy have joined us today.
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, one that is leaner.
And we're 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.
And so that's what we need right now.
And so what you're going to have today is first is a...
We're good to go.
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 DOJ 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 going to do great things for the country.
So I guess I'll take one or two questions.
Um, let me...
Let me answer these questions in reverse order.
We're good to go.
I think?
Mr. Speaker, some labor unions are already fighting back.
They've already signed contracts to try and get this, that they could be able to Well, there was a report that came out today.
I don't know if you all have seen it, but someone did a little survey of how many federal employees are actually working in the office.
By one estimate, it may be about 1 % if you don't count the security personnel that are covering these buildings.
That is absurd, and it's not something the American people would stand for.
And so one of the first things that I think you'll see is a demand from the new administration and from all of us in Congress that federal workers return to their desks.