New DOGE Committee Chair Rep. Tim Burchett, R-Tenn., says the federal government's culture of duplication might be costing taxpayers nearly $1 trillion.
He plans to make cutting waste and fraud his top priority.
"We think we've probably got close to $1 trillion that we know of," Burchett told Newsmax's "America Right Now" on Saturday.
"So are we going to save a trillion? Probably not.
"But if I could go out here and save a few billion dollars after a few committee meetings, I think we did a dadgum good job."
Congress has spent too long producing expensive reports and engaging in partisan fighting instead of delivering real savings for Americans, according to Burchett.
His goal as chairman is to focus how the committee operates by targeting duplication across the federal government and forcing accountability rather than letting taxpayer-funded oversight efforts collect dust.
"A bunch of stupid reports that cost the taxpayers millions of dollars," Burchett said.
"They go to a warehouse like the last scene in 'Raiders of the Lost Ark.'
"I've been in Congress eight years. I've never read one of the reports that they've written."
Instead, Burchett said he wants to bring investigators and watchdog agencies back before Congress to testify on existing findings, then craft legislation directly tied to cutting waste.
"We're going to get those reports that they've already done, and then we're going to bring those to the committee," he continued, "and then craft the legislation about those things that are saving money."
Burchett also suggested that major welfare and Medicaid fraud cases in states such as Minnesota, California, and New York will be a focus of upcoming oversight hearings.
"There will be no sacred cows in this game, because if they're wasting our dollars, all they're doing is stealing from our grandkids," he said.
He warned that wasteful spending is driving the national debt toward unsustainable levels.
"We're $38 trillion — we'll be $40 trillion before long. When does it end?" Burchett said.
"It ends when we fall off the cliff, and when we fall off the cliff, it's too dadgum late."
Burchett hopes to meet again with Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, who spearheaded an executive branch effort last year that identified billions in potential savings.
Musk has raised concerns about federal dollars circulating through nonprofits and returning to politicians through indirect channels.
"We think it's a circuitous route of this money," Burchett said, "going from the taxpayers' back pockets to these NGOs, and coming right back to the politicians."
Rooting out fraud will require more than reports and hearings — it will require prosecutions — Burchett concluded.
"Look, we need somebody in cuffs is what we need," he said. "And that’s what America wants."
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