WASHINGTON, D.C. – Tech billionaire Elon Musk, who leads President Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency, has shaken up Washington. Within the past few days, there have been reports of Musk gaining access to Treasury Department systems and making sweeping changes to USAID (US Agency on International Development).
“DOGE is operating like a shadow government,” said Sen. Chuck Schumer (D- NY).
Congressional Democratic leadership describes information they’ve gathered through whistleblowers and news reports about Elon Musk’s recent activities at the Treasury Department and USAID, as alarming.
“It has no authority to make spending decisions, to shut down programs or ignore federal law,” said Sen. Schumer. “Nothing screams democracy like having a secret squad of company men pull off a hostile takeover of America’s social security and tax information in the dead of night.”
Musk has been tasked by President Trump to help slash government funding. Democratic lawmakers said Musk has gained access to sensitive systems at the Treasury Department, like the Department’s payment system including other sensitive data like social security numbers of most taxpayers.
Outside of USAID, workers were unable to access their offices and many claim they haven’t been able to access their work. The agency’s website was shutdown over the weekend and the State Department wrote in a press release they will take USAID under their wing and making the Secretary of State the acting USAID Administrator.
In a press release from the State Department, it says USAID has “long strayed from its original mission of responsibly advancing American interest abroad and now it’s abundantly clear that significant portions of USAID funding are not aligned with the core national interests of the United States.”
Musk claims Trump agreed USAID should be shut down.
Democrats claim Musk’s work is unchecked. Republicans said the Administration has a right to check on government spending.
“It’s my understanding I don’t think they’re closing an agency,” said Sen. John Thune (R- SD). “I do think they have the right to review funding and how those decisions are made and the priorities being funded. There’s lots of programs being funded through that agency. Some of which I think they’re operating in a way in which they were intended, some aren’t. And I think that’s the determination the administration is in the process of making.”
President Trump told reporters in the Oval Office that Musk can’t do anything without their approval.
