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House Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said he would push to restore the cut funding for the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), and even increase the original amount.
Schumer's comments came after he was asked on Thursday whether he would work to replenish funding for the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) at a forum held by the Center for American Progress.
“If you look at the budget we're working on now, we restored most of the cuts. And we even outperformed previous years on many of the programs that DOGE cut,” Schumer said.
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Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., seen standing outside the Senate chamber. (Aaron Schwartz/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
“We have worked very hard and gained bipartisan support to increase these amounts and undo many of the cuts that are essential,” he added.
He did not describe what specific programs he hopes to complement.
Lawmakers have not yet released final text for the 2026 Transportation, Housing and Urban Development bill. The Senate Appropriations Committee has proposed a plan that would increase its FY26 funding by $5 billion over FY25 levels.
Since the Trump administration began making cuts through DOGE, Democrats like Schumer have largely condemned them, calling them an attack on government resources and services.
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Elon Musk's DOGE Efforts Have Uncovered Several Examples of Wasteful Spending (Getty, AP.DOGE/X)
Republicans, by contrast, have framed the effort as a way to eliminate waste, fraud and abuse. According to the DOGE website, the group believes it has eliminated $215 billion in waste.
Republicans made $115 billion of those spending reductions official in a bill passed last year.
But since then, lawmakers have not introduced another rescissions package, a special type of bill that helps lawmakers speed up spending reductions at the president's request.
Republicans like Aaron Bean, R-Fla., chairman of the House DOGE Caucus, say the GOP's cost-cutting efforts are still taking a backseat.
“DOGE is still alive,” Bean told Fox News Digital in December. “We're going to make it all work. I think that will happen in the future.”
Bean noted that several pressing issues have captured the attention of Congress in recent months.
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Rep. Aaron Bean, R-Fla., leaves a meeting of the House Republican Conference at the Capitol Hill Club on Tuesday, April 30, 2024. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
“I think the shutdown set everyone back a little bit. These credits, with the budget, with everything,” Bean said, referring to the COVID-era Obamacare tax credits that were at the center of the 2025 government shutdown.
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Members of the House and Senate Appropriations committees did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Schumer's remarks.
