U.S. Sen. Rand Paul, R-Bowling Green, signaled his support for ongoing efforts by the Department of Government Efficiency to root out what the department created by President Donald Trump and guided by de facto leader Elon Musk have identified as wasteful spending.

Speaking to reporters Monday after presenting Bowling Green Police Department Officer Matt Davis with a copy of the statement he read into the U.S. Senate record, Paul touched on a number of issues related to the economy and education.

Regarding the cost-cutting measures undertaken by DOGE, which have included firing probationary federal government employees – many of whom have seen their jobs reinstated – and canceling hundreds of federal contracts, Paul acknowledged the process “is a little bit messy sometimes” but said it was necessary to have an organized approach to cutting costs in the service of reducing the deficit.

“We’re spending $2 trillion more than what comes in in taxes, no family can live like that and it’s a dire problem, nobody’s bothered to shake out all the crazy stuff that’s going on in government,” Paul said. “I think even (DOGE admits) that sometimes they’ve gone too far and they’ve had to dial it back, so it needs to be organized and I’m for it being organized, I’m for eliminating that waste.”

“You know, we’ve sent $200 billion to Ukraine and the war is not getting closer to being over, the only way it’s getting closer to being over is when we finally tell them ‘guess what, the money’s running out. You guys need to have peace negotiations.’ I think it’s chaotic sometimes, but I think it’s necessary because the deficit is such a big problem.”

Regarding Trump’s push to dismantle the U.S. Department of Education, Paul said he supported a greater amount of decisions about education being placed into local authorities and that ongoing funding could be transferred to other departments or down from federal agencies.

“If you ask teachers about the Department of Education, they often chafe at national testing that they’re forced to do on kids that is duplicated with Kentucky testing and also duplicating with ACT and SAT testing,” Paul said. “I think those decisions would be better made locally. I think if the Department of Education were eliminated you wouldn’t know it was gone.”

Trump has issued executive orders targeting diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives and set a deadline last month for educational institutions to end DEI initiatives, which Paul touched on when talking about the Department of Education.

“For 50 years, we’ve tried to get race out of politics and out of the law and I don’t think race needs to be put back into education, separating people based on race and that kind of stuff,” Paul said. “I think the DEI stuff they put into the Department of Education is not good for our kids and creates strife and differences among our kids.”

Paul has departed from Trump on tariffs, talking Monday about how tariffs can have a stifling effect on trade, whereas the president has threatened to use them against trading partners.

“Tariffs are a tax, and if you tax something you get less of it,” Paul said. “If you tax trade you get less trade. International trade has made us a rich country and made us rich altogether … we shouldn’t be afraid of foreign companies, particularly ones who want to invest in our country. If we put a tariff on lumber and steel out of Canada, home prices will go up. Tariffs will inevitably mean higher prices.”

Paul also spoke of his support for making Daylight Saving Time the national year-round standard.

The senator has previously voted on legislation to standardize Daylight Saving Time and introduced a bill in January to make that change, but Paul said he would go one step further.

“I would take the Eastern Time Zone in Louisville that comes down and misses Bowling Green, and I’d put Bowling Green in it,” Paul said, adding that he thought Bowling Green residents would welcome extra time in the sun. “In the wintertime it gets dark at 4:30, I think it’s depressing to go home from work in the dark.”