Dems rail on executive overreach as House convenes first DOGE hearing

WASHINGTON (CN) — House Republicans’ first hearing this week on the Donald Trump administration’s so-called “government efficiency” effort predictably became a partisan slugfest as Democrats accused their GOP colleagues of running political cover for unlawful abuses of executive power.

The White House’s Department of Government Efficiency, led by billionaire and Trump adviser Elon Musk, has been a flashpoint for lawmakers in recent weeks — a dynamic that persisted Wednesday as members of the House Oversight Committee met to examine the organization’s efforts.

The subcommittee — dubbed the Delivering on Government Efficiency Committee and chaired by Georgia Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene — convened to examine what Republicans have said is the improper use of funds and fraud at federal agencies. But Democrats on the panel instead seized the opportunity to slam Musk and his government efficiency outfit as illegitimate and unaccountable.

“All you have to do is look across this room and see that it is not a normal hearing,” said New Mexico Representative Melanie Stansbury, the committee’s top Democrat. “Because while we’re sitting here, Donald Trump and Elon Musk are recklessly and illegally dismantling the federal government, shuttering federal agencies, firing federal workers, withholding funds vital to the safety and well-being of our communities and hacking our sensitive data systems.”

In the first month of the second Trump administration, Musk’s government efficiency team worked its way into several federal agencies in what supporters say is an effort to sniff out waste and fraud in government spending. But Democrats argue that the billionaire is an unelected bureaucrat flouting the law and the Constitution — pointing to Musk’s move to dismantle the U.S. Agency for International Development and his push to gain access to confidential payment systems at the Treasury Department.

On Wednesday, Democrats doubled down on their opposition, taking aim at Republicans who they said were shielding Musk and the White House even as they sidestep the law.

“We should in no way be cooperating with House Republicans who want to shut down the Department of Education and destroy Medicare and Medicaid, and we should not stand by as the richest man on the planet gives himself and his companies huge tax cuts while the American people get absolutely nothing,” said California Representative Robert Garcia.

The lawmaker called Musk’s government efficiency office a “demolition plan” aimed at scuttling huge swaths of the federal government, citing reports that the White House is considering shuttering the Education Department and the National Institutes of Health.

“It’s important that we actually call out what is happening on this subcommittee,” added Garcia. “This is not about working with the richest man on the planet. This committee wants to empower the richest person in the world to hurt people so they can take all this money that they want to save and give it to themselves, their companies and their billionaire friends.”

Stansbury called on Musk himself to come before the panel.

“We are well aware that you are eager to engage with members of Congress on social media, but we are not here to play,” the New Mexico Democrat told Trump’s government efficiency czar. “If you have serious desire to engage in democracy and transparency … come and testify in front of the American people under oath because we want to know that you’re up to.”

Republicans, however, tried to pull the conversation back to federal spending, accusing Democrats of being more hung up on Musk than they were concerned with government waste.

“Our massively growing debt and interest are the chains and shackles harnessed to every American, their children and every generation to come,” said Greene. “But first, let us be brutally honest about how this massive debt came to be in the first place. It came from Congress and from elected presidential administrations.”

South Carolina Representative William Timmons argued Democrats’ anger over Musk was “hypocritical,” contending that they had been on board with former President Joe Biden’s student loan forgiveness program, which was blocked by the courts.

“I find it sad that my colleagues across the aisle can’t take this seriously,” he said. “We have $36 trillion in debt. President Trump told the American people he would right the ship financially, and he said during the campaign that Elon Musk was going to be the person to lead this charge.”

Meanwhile, lawmakers offered only limited questioning for the panel of witnesses gathered to testify about government payment systems, including Haywood Talcove, CEO of LexisNexis Risk Solution.

Talcove told the committee that outdated government systems were vehicles for a “silent war” against American taxpayers, arguing that criminals with access to payment infrastructure stole roughly $1 trillion and sent the lion’s share overseas.

“If left unchecked, the U.S. government will continue to lead the world in funding cybercriminals,” he said, advising Congress to update federal privacy law and fund fraud prevention measures across the government.

Dawn Royal, a welfare fraud investigator and director of the United Council of Welfare Fraud, testified that the people charged with stopping fraud in government welfare programs are also victims of outdated infrastructure.

“Investigators continue to be hamstrung by antiquated regulations, conflicting directives from federal agencies and the lack of access to technology,” she said. “Sadly, investigators have also found themselves at odds with career bureaucrats who recite watered-down facts about fraud in order to promote their political agendas.”

Follow @BenjaminSWeiss