President-elect Donald Trump’s big plan to have Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy shape federal cost cutting has a new partnership with the Senate.

Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) will take charge of a new Senate DOGE Caucus, which will work with the so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), led by Musk and Ramaswamy.

The DOGE group will be eyeing massive cuts to federal spending and the government workforce. The commission has been tasked with coordinating with and advising the White House and Office of Management and Budget.

“The tables are finally turning, the knives are out, and waste is on the chopping block,” Ernst said in a statement. “The Senate DOGE Caucus is ready to carry out critical oversight in Congress and use our legislative force to fight against the entrenched bureaucracy, trim the fat, and get Washington back to work for Americans.”

“We look forward to partnering with the Senate to downsize government. Grateful to Sen. Joni Ernst for her excellent suggestions yesterday!” Ramaswamy posted Friday on social media.

The New York Post first reported Ernst’s leadership of the new caucus.

The pair met at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort Thursday night, according to a person familiar with the meeting.

Other founding members of the caucus are Sens. Ted Budd (R-N.C.), Rick Scott (R-Fla.), John Cornyn (R-Texas), Mike Lee (R-Utah), Roger Marshall (R-Kan.) and James Lankford (R-Okla.). None serve on the Senate Appropriations Committee, which writes federal spending bills.

“Let’s start cutting some government!” Lee posted Friday.

The Senate move follows action in the House, where Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) will lead a new House Oversight subcommittee on DOGE.

Jordain Carney contributed to this report.

Matt Gaetz is following in the footsteps of another Republican who left Congress under a cloud of controversy … by joining Cameo.

A day after withdrawing from consideration as Donald Trump’s attorney general — and hours after the now-former Florida representative said in an interview that he would not return for the next Congress — Gaetz created an account on the app where celebrities and other public figures can charge hundreds of dollars or more for personalized video messages.

“I served in Congress. Trump nominated me to be US Attorney General (that didn’t work out). Once I fired the House Speaker,” reads the profile for the “Former Florida Congressman” that’s charging upwards of $500 a video. Semafor first reported Gaetz’s account.

Gaetz follows his one-time colleague, former Rep. George Santos (R-N.Y.) — who was expelled from Congress late last year after a scathing ethics report into his conduct — in attempting to cash in on his fame on Cameo. Santos, who lists himself as a “Former congressional ‘icon,’” charges upwards of $250 for his videos.

Olivia Beavers contributed to this report.

MIAMI — Florida will conduct a special election on April 1, 2025, to fill the House seat vacated by Matt Gaetz, kicking off a sprint among Florida Republicans to represent the deep-red district.

Gaetz resigned from Congress after President-elect Donald Trump said he planned to appoint him as attorney general. He then dropped out of the running for that job on Thursday, citing the “distraction” of the upcoming confirmation process, which had raised questions about sexual misconduct and drug use allegations that he denies. Trump instead said he planned to nominate former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi.

On Friday morning, Gaetz said he did not plan to return to Congress but hasn’t announced what he’ll do next.

“I’m gonna be fighting for President Trump,” Gaetz told Charlie Kirk on his radio show. “I’m gonna be doing whatever he asks of me, as I always have. But I think that eight years is probably enough time in the United States Congress.”

It takes several months to fill the seat in the 1st District because of requirements around qualifying, overseas ballot deadlines and the need to hold both a primary and general election.

The primaries are set for January 28, but whoever wins the GOP nomination will be the heavy favorite over the Democratic pick.

“At Gov. Ron DeSantis’ direction, this special election is being conducted as quickly as statutorily possible,” Florida Secretary of State Cord Byrd said in a statement. “We are committed to ensuring this election is held as soon as we are allowed to hold it by state law.”

GOP State Rep. Michelle Salzman filed on Tuesday to run for Gaetz’s 1st District, while Florida Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis said he was “strongly considering” doing the same. “We’ve got a historic opportunity to fight the swamp, end lawfare and return power back into the hands of Americans,” he wrote on X.

GOP State Rep. Joel Rudman also has filed to run, saying in a press release Friday morning that he would “stand in lockstep” with Trump. Another name floated for the District 1 seat is DeSantis chief of staff James Uthmeier.

If Patronis were to run, then DeSantis would get to select his replacement for CFO. That would help line up a challenge in 2026 to state Sen. Joe Gruters (R-Sarasota), who has already filed to run for the position and has the Trump endorsement — but is a longtime DeSantis foe.

An endorsement by Trump in the race would likely serve to anoint the future representative. Salzman endorsed DeSantis in the primary while Patronis — who’d been weighing a 2026 gubernatorial run — stayed neutral until DeSantis dropped out.

Florida will soon have another special election to schedule. Trump also tapped Rep. Mike Waltz to be his national security adviser. But that special election isn’t on the calendar yet because Waltz has not announced when he will resign and could serve at the start of the new Congress next year — which is not unusual for members nominated to serve in a president-elect’s administration.