{time}  1750

  That is our promise. We don't want any more toxic relationships. We
just say this: The American people deserve better, girl, and we are
here for you.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from Oregon.
  Ms. HOYLE of Oregon. Mr. Speaker, at the beginning of the 119th
session, I was ready to work with anyone to root out waste, fraud, and
abuse in the government. We are here to be good stewards of taxpayer
dollars, and we should want our government to be efficient.
  That is not what happened. We started with a bipartisan congressional
effort, and then President Trump appointed Elon Musk, who stood there
with a chainsaw, brought in a bunch of unqualified DOGE bros, who said
that they were going to make $2 trillion in savings from the Federal
budget, but made no meaningful impact in spending.
  They tortured and went after our public employees that cost the
taxpayers $10 billion through the deferred resignation program. Mr.
Speaker, 300,000 Federal workers were fired or urged to retire,
including 100,000 veterans.
  This wasn't done in a strategic way. People were fired without
understanding what their jobs were. For instance, off the Oregon coast,
they fired the people who knew how to operate the tsunami warning
system. That isn't rooting out waste, fraud, and abuse.
  They shut down promising innovations, like direct file, at the
request of big businesses that stood to financially

benefit. That hurt low-income and working Americans who now have to pay
to file their taxes.
  They slowed response time to complaints made to the Consumer
Financial Protection Bureau, which had previously helped return $21
billion to Americans.
  They purged USAID by getting rid of 83 percent of USAID projects.
Impact Counter estimates that 757,000 people died, mostly children. We
lost the benefit of soft power that we had when we invested in this
very effective program.
  They tried to end NIOSH and canceled $3.8 billion in NIH grants. They
laid off 1,300 critical Federal workers from NOAA.
  If you want to talk about government overreach and small government,
that is not what happened with DOGE. They gained access to personal
data, like our Social Security numbers, our tax returns, and our health
records.
  Waste, fraud, and abuse still exist in the Federal Government. For
instance, if we want to root out waste, fraud, and abuse, let's start
with the Pentagon that failed the last eight audits. There is a ton of
waste, fraud, and abuse.
  They have awarded more than $208 billion in contracts to companies
that have been cited for repeated or willful violations. Why are we not
addressing that?
  We should want government to be more efficient. We should want to
root out waste, fraud, and abuse. I will work with anyone to make that
happen.
  Instead, we gave a chainsaw to a trillionaire who made his money off
of Federal grants, Federal research, and Federal projects, and we cut
critical investments to make our government work better for the working
people.
  On July Fourth, DOGE shut down. It doesn't intend to publish a final
report because they would have to report a giant failure that cost
taxpayers $10 billion. I say, good-bye, good riddance, and let's not do
this again.
  Ms. STANSBURY. Mr. Speaker, there are so many things to be said about
DOGE and the waste of money and lives that happened over the course of
the year and a half that it was officially on the books.
  Mr. Speaker, I also want to take a moment to talk about our country
at a crossroads. Do we continue to use American taxpayer dollars to
fund the killing of civilians, children, and families abroad, or do we
finally say, enough?
  Today, I took a vote for the children, for peace, and for the future
of this country, by voting ``yes'' on an amendment to block $3.3
billion in offensive military aid. This is money that should be used to
build roads, to build housing, and to lower the cost of food and
childcare for families who are struggling right here in the United
States.
  I did not come to Congress to write blank checks to the military. I
did not come to Congress to write blank checks to foreign militaries to
bomb civilians, and I did not come here to support an unending and
illegal war in the Middle East.
  That is why I chose today to block offensive military aid. Today, I
choose our people over weapons. I choose peace over war. I choose
accountability over silence, and I will continue to choose that every
single time.
  Now, Mr. Speaker, as we close out this debate and the broken promises
of DOGE and this administration, let us be reminded that when President
Trump and Elon Musk first created DOGE, the American people were
promised that it would cut waste, fight fraud and abuse, and save the
taxpayers $2 trillion across the government. Many of us hoped that was
actually true because cutting waste, fraud, and abuse is not a partisan
issue. It is just good government. All of us want a government that
actually works for the people of this country.
  Actions speak louder than words. When it comes to the legacy of DOGE
and this administration, its actions speak for themselves. Instead of
cutting waste, they cut over 100,000 jobs of veterans across the
Federal Government, veterans in my district who worked at the VA and
across our Federal agencies, who wanted nothing more than to continue
their service to this country.
  They cut workers in charge of maintaining our nuclear stockpile, only
to scramble to rehire them. They fired some of our Nation's top
scientists, who were responsible for making sure our national security
is taken care of.
  They attacked Social Security. They fired thousands of workers across
the Social Security Administration, including in my district where
people were struggling just to get access to their basic needs being
met.
  DOGE cut back hours and fired hundreds across New Mexico. It pushed
seniors, children, and veterans to the brink.
  Instead of saving taxpayers money, DOGE cost taxpayers billions of
dollars in lost productivity, lost revenue, and the cost to hire
essential civil servants they fired. Instead of fighting abuse, DOGE
gave the richest man on planet Earth direct influence over government
decisionmaking and access to our personal and financial data.
  We will never know the true damage that DOGE did because the
administration won't even release the final information or final report
explaining what they did. This is not okay.
  Let me say this to this administration: You better bet we will be
investigating every inch of what you did through DOGE and your behavior
in the administration.
  The American people deserve transparency. The American people deserve
a government that works for them. The American people deserve a
government and leaders who tell the truth. The American people deserve
accountability for their taxpayer dollars. The American people deserve
respect, especially those who have served this great Nation.

                              {time}  1800

  Even though DOGE's disaster is officially over on the books, we
already have another agency whose job is to find waste, fraud, and
abuse. We will continue to investigate what happened through DOGE. We
will continue to do the work of improving our government, and we will
continue to investigate what has happened.
  Our question is: After all that has been said and done, will the
Republicans of this body continue to support the lies that this
administration has put forward through DOGE? Will they continue to
support the dismantling of our Federal agencies, as is happening right
now at the Department of Education, as we stand here, and the Education
Committee?
  Will they continue to raid agencies like the Consumer Financial
Protection Bureau and steal money from the taxpayers?
  Will they continue to allow this administration to steal your
taxpayer dollars and give it to the military to bomb civilians
overseas?
  Will they continue to allow an out-of-control President to make
billions of dollars in self-dealing while lining his pockets and
demolishing the White House or will they actually stand up for the
American people?
  That is the real waste, fraud, and abuse, and that is the real
corruption, a President who is wasting our taxpayer dollars on an
unending and illegal war, painting a pool filled with algae, a golden
ballroom, and trying to put his name on the Kennedy Center, spending
millions of dollars, taxpayer dollars litigating over illegal actions
he has taken since taking office, all while giving private contracts to
his own family members and the very man who started DOGE in the first
place.
  While DOGE may be over, let the lesson be that when we take back the
House, we will hold them accountable. We will build a government that
works for the American people, that is stronger. We will stop
billionaires from coming in and using their money to achieve their own
political ends and line their own pockets.
  We will stop the self-dealing not only in the White House, but that
happens in this Chamber. We will work to get big money out of politics,
to end Citizens United, and to ensure that we have a system that
actually represents the people of this country.
  We will rebuild better the agencies that were dismantled. We will
create a whole new generation of public servants who want to serve this
great Nation, and we will bring a new deal for this country that is
about results, that is about dignity, that puts people and services
ahead of profits and not empty promises.
  That is why, Mr. Speaker, we are here today to celebrate the end of
this dark chapter and bring DOGE to a conclusion.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.