Long Beach Rep. Robert Garcia announced Tuesday he will serve on a Congressional oversight subcommittee for the newly established Department of Government Efficiency, which is expected to propose dramatic cuts to the federal government.
The Long Beach representative will join five other Democrats and six Republicans on the subcommittee when the new Congress convenes in January. Picks by House Democrats were finalized Tuesday evening, according to someone familiar with the appointments.
In a call Tuesday night, Garcia said the scope of the subcommittee remains unclear.
The subcommittee will be chaired by Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, of Georgia, and take on the amorphous task of working with tech billionaire Elon Musk to eliminate government waste, according to an executive order signed Monday by President Donald Trump.
A news release from Garcia’s office said the subcommittee will have sweeping jurisdiction, from pay and benefits for federal civil service to property disposal, government reorganizations and operations, grants and accounting.
How those topics come before the subcommittee, be it through an investigation, hearing or other means, remains unclear.
“I think we’re just going to wait to see how (Greene) kicks this thing off,” Garcia said. “But we’ll be there on the other side to push back.”
In a statement on X Monday morning, Greene wrote that the subcommittee will “strive to eliminate waste, fraud, abuse, and the mismanagement within federal agencies,” listing in a separate post that funding for PBS may be one of its early targets.
“I look forward to PBS @NewsHour coming before my committee and explaining why lying and spreading propaganda to serve the Democrat party and attack Republicans is a good use of taxpayer funds,” she wrote.
While Garcia said he is open to trimming the federal budget where needed — his first two bills both dealt in federal efficiency — he remains unconvinced proposals will come before the subcommittee in good faith.
“They’re not interested in actual government efficiency,” Garcia said. “If you want to talk about waste, let’s start with the Pentagon. The Defense Department is the single largest agency in the government. It hasn’t passed an audit in decades. There is the efficiency we can provide.”
Garcia said his priorities are to keep intact “social safety net” programs like Medicare, Social Security and funding through the federal Department of Education.
“I think it’s going to be important for us to be honest, bring the facts, bring the data and push back on the lies,” Garcia said.
This comes as President Trump directed federal diversity, equity and inclusion staff to be put on leave, in anticipation of agencies developing plans to lay them off, according to a memo Tuesday from the Office of Personnel Management. Republicans have also signaled interest in making cuts to the Pentagon and federal Department of Education.
“This is a department that helps fund our local Long Beach schools and helps fund our programs that are helping kids that have disabilities, that have different needs in the classroom,” Garcia said. “And so to defund or destroy this agency, or to rollback benefits in Social Security or Medicare, I think is horrific.”