Democrats had their fangs out for Elon Musk during the first ever House Delivering on Government Efficiency subcommittee hearing Wednesday.
Representative Melanie Stansbury, the top Democrat on the subcommittee, said that lawmakers “can’t just sit here today and pretend like everything is normal.” She further accused Republicans of shielding Musk and Donald Trump, who are “clearly breaking the law.”
“Come and testify in front of the American people under oath, because we want to know what you’re up to,” Stansbury said in a direct missive to the world’s richest man.
Other Democrats were equally infuriated by the unrestricted demolition taking place across the executive branch under Musk’s direction. So far, Musk’s team has gained access to the CDC, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, the Education, Commerce, Defense, and Energy Departments, the EPA, FEMA, NOAA, and, among other agencies, the Federal Aviation Administration. (That last one comes during a period in which the U.S. has experienced an unprecedented uptick in critical aviation accidents, with four deadly crashes taking place since Trump took office. Before 2025, the last deadly crash involving a U.S. airliner was in 2009).
Through all these agencies, Musk has extracted sensitive data on hundreds of millions of Americans, including their Social Security numbers, home addresses, and medical histories.
But Democrats on the subcommittee were quick to highlight that, despite Musk’s apparent affinity for combing through the details of Americans’ lives under the helm of the executive branch, the multi-billionaire hasn’t been too keen when the government has rooted through his own backyard.
“Five inspector generals that were looking into Elon Musk’s companies were fired by the Trump-Musk administration,” said Texas Representative Greg Casar. “These inspector generals, who are independent, protected by law, they are the people that find the waste, fraud, and abuse … fired because they were looking into Elon Musk.”
“You know what Elon Musk doesn’t seem to be looking into?” Casar continued. “His own contracts.”
“Just last year, Elon Musk was promised $3 billion from close to 100 contracts with the federal government,” Casar said, highlighting the discrepancy that seniors who rely on social security are dependent upon $65 a day from the government. “We’re not looking into Elon Musk’s $8 million a day. This subcommittee chaired by Marjorie Taylor Greene and the House Republicans is looking into your grandmother’s $65 a day.”
Casar: “You know what Elon Musk doesn’t seem to be looking into? His own contracts … we’re not looking into Elon Musk’s $8m a day. This subcommittee chaired by Marjorie Taylor Greene and the House Republicans is looking into your grandmother’s $65 a day.” pic.twitter.com/U0SeKgjqE8
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) February 12, 2025
Greene pushed back on claims that the administration shouldn’t be hacking and slashing away at all facets of government spending.
“We as a country are $36 trillion in debt,” Greene said during the hearing. “In 2025, interest payments are projected to be $952 billion, which is more than our entire military budget.”
But Democrats weren’t taking her direction very seriously, either.
“I find it ironic that our chairman, Representative Greene, is in charge of running this committee. In the last Congress, Chairwoman Greene literally showed a dick pic in our Oversight hearing, so I thought I’d bring one as well,” California Representative Robert Garcia told the committee, bringing out a large poster board portrait of Musk. “This, of course, is President Elon Musk.”
The post Democrats Turn First DOGE Hearing Into an Elon Musk Roast appeared first on New Republic.
