U.S. Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-VA), the Ranking Member of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, is a vocal critic of Elon Musk, the unelected billionaire running the Department of Government and Efficiency (DOGE) for President Donald Trump.
Musk and DOGE have reportedly been given access to the Treasury’s federal payment system by Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.
[Contradicting those reports, Bessent sought to assure lawmakers that Musk’s team did not have full control of the system, prompting Senate Appropriations Committee ranking member Patty Murray (D-WA) to reply: “Why on earth should we believe that, particularly when he is saying the exact opposite, loudly and repeatedly for everyone to see?”]
After Musk and his DOGE team shut down the offices of the USAID in Washington, DC this week, Rep. Connolly called a motion on the House floor to subpoena Musk.
Connolly said of Musk: “Given his prominence and his importance, I move that the committee subpoena Mr. Musk to come before it as a witness at the earliest possible moment.”
Chairman of the House Oversight Committee, Rep. James Comer (R-KY) responded, “There’s been a motion and second. The motion is not debatable.”
When asked by Rep. Melanie Stansbury (D-NM) “why is it not debatable?” Comer didn’t reply right away.
Another congressman asked, “Why don’t we want to debate Elon Musk coming in and talking to us about his work and how he’s enriched himself and there’s 64 billion dollars…”
Democrats on the House Oversight Committee just tried to subpoena Elon Musk to publicly testify on his dismantling of the government and civil service.
— More Perfect Union (@MorePerfectUS) February 5, 2025
Just watch what happened next. pic.twitter.com/y97WwF7bpN
Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-NC) moved to table the motion. Rep. Clay Higgins (R-LA) seconded Foxx’s motion to table and then they voted to table the motion, which of course all the Republicans (the majority) were in favor for.
Stansbury wouldn’t let it lie and continued to ask for a debate, a request which caused Comer to yell, “You’re out of order and you know you’re out of order.” Stansbury replied: “Mr. Elon Musk is out of order.”
As seen below, Stansbury asked her Republican colleagues: “Why are you shielding Elon Musk from coming in front of this committee? Why is the GOP and the White House shielding an unelected, unvetted, unqualified, private citizen and billionaire who is literally dismantling our agencies while we sit here and is literally breaking the law?”
Why is the GOP shielding Elon Musk from Oversight!?
— Rep. Melanie Stansbury (@Rep_Stansbury) February 5, 2025
Maybe…because while we’re sitting here he’s dismantling agencies, threatening national security, stealing our data, and breaking the law.
Dems are not clutching our pearls.
Dems are fighting back.
And we won't stop! pic.twitter.com/vANgpbJu8j
Note: On Friday, Connolly wrote in a statement:
“Elon Musk’s hostile takeover of the Office of Personnel Management, sanctioned by Donald Trump, is putting Americans in danger. Since Trump handed Musk the keys to our government, it’s been reported that Musk has set up private servers that risk a cybersecurity nightmare, sent out unsanctioned and untrustworthy resignation offers, and locked career officials out of agency systems. And that’s just in the past few days. The actions of Co-Presidents Musk and Trump will have disastrous consequences not just for the civil servants whose lives they are upending, but for the American people who will suffer as a result.”
