Republicans and Democrats on DOGE subcommittee differ sharply over Trump administration’s moves to cut federal spending.
By: Joseph Morton
https://www.dallasnews.com/
WASHINGTON — U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Dallas, accused Republicans Wednesday of handing their constitutional role of controlling the federal purse strings to Elon Musk, whom President Donald Trump has tasked with rooting out waste in the federal government.
“People said that they were upset about TikTok, but I’m upset about the guy that runs Twitter,” Crockett said during the first hearing of the new House Subcommittee on Delivering on Government Efficiency.
She said Democrats support efforts to scrutinize federal spending, particularly at the Pentagon, and would welcome forensic auditors going over the government’s books.
In contrast, Musk is an unelected bureaucrat who needs to be stopped, she said.
“It is time for us to do our jobs and rein in this rogue actor known as Elon Musk,” Crockett said.
The House DOGE subcommittee, which shares the acronym of Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency, began the hearing with its chair, U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., promising to launch a “war on waste.”
Republicans described DOGE as a natural response to Americans’ anger at stories of wasteful spending and federal payments. They endorsed Trump’s executive orders empowering Musk and his team and said the president was making good on campaign pledges to cut government waste.
The national debt has driven up inflation, making it difficult for everyday Americans and small businesses to survive, Greene said.
“Our massively growing debt and interest are the chains and shackles harnessed to every American and their children and every generation to come,” Greene said.
Expert witnesses testified at the hearing about federal programs being hacked by criminals who siphon off taxpayer money, aided by outdated systems and regulations that block efforts to root out improper payments.
They said the government could save large sums with simple steps such as bolstering systems to verify payment recipients.
Democrats pushed back by saying the hearing was intended to obscure a Republican agenda bent on helping Musk and other wealthy individuals at the expense of everyday people.
U.S. Rep. Greg Casar, D-Austin, highlighted Musk’s business dealings with the federal government and noted the Trump administration has dismissed various inspectors general, who are supposed to be watchdogs keeping an eye on federal spending.
“If this committee were serious about rooting out waste from our federal government, then today’s whole hearing would be about how Musk and Donald Trump are firing the independent watchdogs who’ve done this work for decades,” Casar said.
“The American people are $36 trillion in debt,” Greene said in response. “It certainly seems reasonable that someone has been fired.”
“You’re going to put us further in debt with your billionaire tax cuts,” Casar shot back.
U.S. Rep. Brandon Gill, R-Flower Mound, said Democrats who criticized Musk had no objection to policies advanced by bureaucrats in the previous administration.
“Republicans want to cut waste, fraud and abuse from our federal government and save taxpayer dollars, and Democrats want to grandstand and play politics,” Gill said.
The new subcommittee is likely to be an arena to attack or defend Musk’s actions, and the panel includes members known for making waves.
Crockett and Greene have tangled during past committee hearings.
Their most high-profile confrontation came at a hearing last May during which Greene insulted Crockett’s “fake eyelashes” and Crockett responded by referring to Greene’s “bleach-blond, bad-built butch body.”
During Wednesday’s hearing, Crockett questioned the sincerity of Greene’s interest in tackling government waste, saying the Republican skipped Oversight Committee hearings last session focused on improper payments.
Speaking to reporters after Wednesday’s hearing, Greene declined to respond to the comments about her past hearing attendance, which she described as “petty.”
Greene also defended the new subcommittee’s work, saying she had received a flood of encouraging messages from constituents. She indicated many more hearings are coming, including one on the U.S. Agency for International Development, which Musk has pushed to shut down.
“We’re working on filling the calendar with many more important issues, departments, government programs that the American people deserve direct, hard transparency into,” Greene said.
Joseph Morton covers the intersection of business and politics in the Washington Bureau. Before joining The News, Joseph worked for CQ Roll Call and the Omaha World-Herald. He graduated from the University of Missouri School of Journalism.
This story, originally published in The Dallas Morning News, is reprinted as part of a collaborative partnership between The Dallas Morning News and Texas Metro News. The partnership seeks to boost coverage of Dallas’ communities of color, particularly in southern Dallas.
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