OAN Staff James Meyers
4:09 PM – Wednesday, February 5, 2025
The GOP blocked efforts by Democrats to subpoena Elon Musk to appear before the panel and answer questions regarding a series of moves he executed, impacting multiple federal agencies and their staff — while exposing discreet funding that directly benefited the Democrat Party.
In addition, Musk exposed government overspending, referring to it as just the tip of the iceberg, among other wasted funds being sent out to a number of different foreign countries and left-wing outlets, such as Politico.
However, the move caught many Republican lawmakers off guard. They initially did not have enough votes to stop the motion, prompting conservatives to relocate back into the hearing room.
“Who is this unelected billionaire that he can attempt to dismantle federal agencies, fire people, transfer them, offer them early retirement and have sweeping changes to agencies without any congressional review, oversight or concurrence? Therefore, Mr. Chairman, given his prominence and his importance, I move that the committee subpoena Elon Musk to come report as a witness at the earliest possible moment,” said Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-Va.).
Musk, the head of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), has begun sending his DOGE staffers to multiple U.S. agencies — looking deeper into the databases at the Office of Personnel Management and the Treasury Department.
However, it’s somewhat unclear what authority DOGE staffers have in terms of access to the different databases.
Additionally, Musk was also behind the new federal government program offering buyouts to federal employees, which entailed eight months of pay and benefits — attempting to entice workers to leave their jobs if they do not wish to uphold the Trump administration’s “America First” agenda.
As a result of Republicans killing the motion, Committee Chair James Comer (R-Ky.) made a number of comments.
“You all could have invited Mr. Musk to be your minority witness, but you all chose to have a college professor, which is what you normally choose to have as a witness at any hearing and that’s fine, but you all had an opportunity to invite Elon Musk,” Comer said.
During the hearing, Comer continued to defend the work being conducted by DOGE, saying: “real innovation isn’t clean and tidy.”
“It’s what the American people voted for in November. A departure from the broken status quo,” he asserted.
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