WASHINGTON — Former Vice President Mike Pence’s group on Thursday pushed Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy to slash government spending by eliminating handouts for illegal migrants and banning DEI funding, among other proposals, according to a memo exclusively obtained by The Post, as the co-heads of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) rallied GOP lawmakers in Washington to their cause.

Advancing American Freedom urged the DOGE bosses to trim the fat off the federal bureaucracy and cut a host of costly spending programs, several of which were imposed by President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris’ administration — including provisions from their $740 billion Inflation Reduction Act (IRA).

“The American people want less government in their lives and want the government to spend less of their money on wasteful and woke programs,” said AAF president Tim Chapman.

“Advancing American Freedom wants to help advance the vision of DOGE to improve the lives of everyday Americans,” added Chapman, urging DOGE “to cut through the overwhelming maze of bureaucracy and reassure the American people that their government is accountable to them for how their taxes are being spent.”

The memo calls for ending federal benefit programs tasked with helping illegal immigrants, prohibiting federal funding for programs that push diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives and clawing back unspent COVID-19 money.

It also prods Republicans to repeal Democrats’ “Green New Deal” provisions tucked into Democrats’ IRA, halt hundreds of billions of dollars in student debt from being canceled via programs started by Biden’s Education Department, and get non-defense spending back to pre-COVID levels.

Another long-held GOP priority that made the list was mandating that all able-bodied workers be kicked off welfare.

Musk and Ramaswamy went to Capitol Hill on Thursday to discuss their unprecedented budget-cutting plans with GOP lawmakers, many of whom welcomed their ideas.

DOGE, named after the cryptocurrency with a Shiba Inu as its mascot, will be committed to shutting down redundant agencies and firing useless government employees, Musk and Ramaswamy have both said.

“We need to make sure we’re spending public money well,” Musk told reporters on his way out of a meeting with soon-to-be Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD).

A significant portion of congressional Republicans support a smaller federal government, but DOGE — which is not a government department — could potentially run into hurdles lowering budgets if just a few dissenting GOPers push back in Congress.

“Two people who know nothing about how the government works pretending they can cut a trillion dollars, both with decent pulpits to preach from, and the ear of an unpredictable president? Disaster,” one senior Republican aide griped to Punchbowl News.

“The only good thing is that at some point they’ll overpromise and get bounced by [President-elect Donald] Trump. But until then … disaster.”

There was also uncertainty from lawmakers who huddled with Musk and Ramaswamy over what exactly DOGE is and how exactly the two bombastic entrepreneurs intend to push through dramatic spending cuts.

“I don’t know what legal authority they have,” Rep. Max Miller (R-Ohio) admitted to reporters after a large meeting with Musk and Ramaswamy when asked about whether the duo believes they have sufficient independent power or intend to act in an advisory role. 

“That I don’t know,” Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) added when asked about the accountability line behind DOGE and whether it could face Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests.

During their meeting with a large ensemble of lawmakers right before votes on the House floor, Musk and Ramaswamy spoke for about a minute and then turned to the microphone over to reps for an extensive ideas session. They also indicated that similar meetings of that nature will follow down the line.

At least one idea floated was impoundment, something endorsed by Office of Management and Budget director-designee Russell Vought and in which the executive branch would simply refuse to spend funds allocated by Congress.

“The president, personally I believe, has the constitutional authority, and I think there was some significant agreement in the room,” Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas) said.

“I told these guys the best thing they could do is highlight all of the nonsense that Congress continues to fund — and then that way Congress has to bear its burden as appropriators and spenders of the power of the purse,” he recounted. 

At one point, Musk and Ramaswamy pitched a Christmas-themed suggestion of a “naughty and nice list” for reps, according to Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), who chairs the House DOGE Caucus.

Musk, who paraded around the Capitol Thursday with his four-year-old son X Æ A-Xii on his shoulders, also stressed the need to check every single federal payment that goes out. There wasn’t a specific figure given for cuts or a precise game plan for DOGE, according to about a dozen lawmakers in attendance. 

There was also a sense of urgency in the room and a strong conviction shared by attendees that Congress needs to tackle the soaring national debt. 

Rep. Dusty Johnson (R-SD) noted that one of his takeaways is that there is a sense that the federal government lags behind the private sector in the use of critical technology that could make its operations more efficient. He also commended the incoming administration’s outreach to Congress.  

So far, Musk and Ramaswamy’s are being met publicly with positive feedback from Republican lawmakers — with Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) introducing legislation to bolster DOGE’s efforts.

Fox News’ Martha MacCallum asked House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) on Wednesday if it would be possible to enact Musk’s plan to cut the 428 government agencies down to 99.

“We certainly hope so, we want to be willing partners in that,” Johnson replied, pointing to the Supreme Court overturning the 1984 Chevron doctrine earlier this year as an indication that control is being taken back from ham-handed federal regulators.

“It’s a new thing and this is a new day in Washington, a new day in America. We have long lamented the size and scope of the government — that it has grown too large,” Johnson told reporters in the hallway Thursday.

“There’s an enormous amount of waste, fraud and abuse.”

Musk has been Trump’s top confidant at Mar-a-Lago in the weeks following the 45th president’s re-election, advising him on transition moves and weighing in on calls with foreign dignitaries.

The DOGE initiative comes as a natural progression of the two business titans’ opprobrium for the “swamp” and rooting out government excess — just as Musk did with Twitter, now X, when he eliminated the majority of the staff.

“Look, it’s a refreshing idea that we’re going to actually make government work better and make your taxpayers go further,” House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.) said on CNBC’s “Squawk Box” before his Musk-Ramaswamy sitdown.

“There are probably 75% of federal employees here in Washington that still are not showing up to work under the excuse of COVID.”

“The swamp is elitist and bipartisan,” Rep. Eli Crane (R-Ariz.) said on X ahead of his own meeting with the pair.

“I look forward to hearing from [Elon Musk] and [Vivek Ramaswamy] today on Capitol Hill.”

Disdain for unelected, meddling government employees was a centerpiece of Ramaswamy’s own presidential campaign — and he hopes to continue in that vein in the second Trump administration.

“I have a passion for tearing down bureaucracy,” Ramaswamy told The Post in late October.

“And that’s something I’ve been vocal about over the last two years.”

Correction: This article originally referred to Rep. Dusty Johnson as a Republican from South Carolina. Johnson serves in South Dakota’s at-large district.