Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy had few good answers Thursday for how the new “Department of Government Efficiency” (DOGE) will meet its lofty goals of slashing $2 trillion in spending during a buzzy meeting with GOP lawmakers.

In a session that included both House and Senate Republicans, the two businessmen appointed by President-elect Trump to lead DOGE heard plenty of suggestions on how to cut spending and government waste — including some ideas that have circulated among conservatives for years.

Rep. Max Miller (R-Ohio) described the meeting as a “listening session.”

“Probably half of them in there are really excited, and the other half know reality,” Miller said of those attending the meeting. His remarks alluded to doubts among Capitol Hill Republicans about DOGE’s ability to cut spending and radically reshape government.

Some members left the meeting highly skeptical that Musk and Ramaswamy will be able to get anything like $2 trillion in spending cuts through Congress.

“These guys are going to get their eyes open,” said one Republican lawmaker, granted anonymity to speak candidly, pointing to the razor-thin majority in the House and the problem of the filibuster in the Senate.

Republicans will have a 219-215 majority at the beginning of the new House session because of Rep. Matt Gaetz’s (R-Fla.) decision to leave Congress after winning reelection. That majority will then go down to 217-215 when two other Republicans leave for Trump administration posts.

“They’re gonna offer a lot of solutions that are gonna roll off the tongue real easy, but look at the margins. They’re just not gonna have the horsepower,” the member said of Musk and Ramaswamy.

A second GOP member said that toward the end of the meeting, Musk and Ramaswamy got a question about how feasible it is to cut $2 trillion in annual spending, given how hard it was to reach a deal to cut $1.5 trillion over 10 years in the 2023 Fiscal Responsibility Act that also raised the debt limit — and all without touching entitlement spending.

There was not a clear answer from Musk and Ramaswamy on that, the member said, but the takeaway was that there was low-hanging fruit — such as instituting a federal hiring freeze at some agencies.

When asked whether DOGE’s goals will result in the firing of hundreds of employees, Rep. Byron Donalds (R-Fla.) told reporters “It’s not clear right now,” adding, “It’s about making sure that the government’s doing its job efficiently.”

Overall, members said the meeting was a combination of Musk and Ramaswamy giving ideas and listening to members provide their own suggestions. At least one member left the meeting early because the line to ask a question was too long.

While many Republicans expect that the Trump administration’s DOGE commission will be able to have an impact through executive action, there is no consensus on the role Congress will play in trying to slash spending, reduce waste and make lasting change.

House Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-Minn.), though, said that “they’re going to work with Congress to make sure that it’s put in the law.”

Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) cautioned that the Thursday meetings would not immediately lead to specific plans.

“There won’t be a lot of detail for the press today, and that’s by design, because this is a brainstorming session,” Johnson told reporters.

Rep. Tom Cole (R-Okla.), chair of the House Appropriations Committee, emphasized Musk and Ramaswamy’s comments were “fairly general.”

“It’s just ‘getting to know you’ and trying to understand the full scope of what they’re going to propose, how much would be done by executive action,” Cole told The Hill. “It’s a very preliminary discussion.”

Ending government telework came up repeatedly at the big meeting. Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), chair of the Senate DOGE Caucus, came out with a report on reform for the federal workforce on Thursday that highlighted criticisms of remote work.

“Across the country, people have gone back to work, yet you’ve got thousands — tens of thousands of federal workers being paid over $100,000 a year each and they’re not showing up for work,” House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.) said following the meeting. “And who loses from that are the American people.”

Several members indicated that the DOGE leaders are especially interested in reforming funding for the Department of Education.

Rep. Aaron Bean (R-Fla.), a co-chair of the House DOGE Caucus, said Ramaswamy told members the Constitution does not give the federal government the “authority to do education,” and opened debate on the topic.

The tech entrepreneur has repeatedly advocated for the elimination of the Education Department, echoing a similar pledge made by Trump on the campaign trail.

Bean, who also serves on the Education Committee, suggested giving states more control over the issue, and Rep. Tim Burchett (R-Tenn.) said there “was a lot of support” for that proposal.

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), who is set to lead a Delivering on Government Efficiency subcommittee next year, suggested to reporters that there is not an appetite for touching mandatory spending and entitlements.

“The first thing that was talked about was protecting the American people’s hard-earned money and Social Security,” Greene said.

The first GOP member, though, expressed frustration at entitlements and mandatory spending being off-limits for DOGE, since it takes up the bulk of federal spending.

“We are trying to trick ourselves into thinking that we’re not going to have to get into entitlements. But I got news for you: If that’s the answer, then it will be deficit spending for as far as you can see,” the GOP member said.