Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) appeared on a podcast and accused Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy of acting like the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) Committee is “legitimate.” wondered why.
“We've watched President Trump's first term, when nothing was real, when everything was false or fake, it wasn't Infrastructure Week, right? Since Parkland, he's never been serious about gun control. Why did we all of a sudden decide to take this Government Efficiency Task Force seriously if we weren't working on it?''Murphy said on Thursday's episode. Part of the New Republic's podcast, “The Daily Blast with Greg Sargent.”
“Why are we acting as if this is legal?” he added.
President Trump announced last month that Musk and Ramaswamy would head DOGE, which aims to “reduce excessive regulation and reduce wasteful spending” and reorganize federal agencies.
DOGE will “provide advice and guidance from outside the government” and work with the White House Office of Management and Budget, the president-elect said.
“This could potentially become a modern-day 'Manhattan Project,'” Trump added. “Republican politicians have long dreamed of DOGE goals.”
Murphy said in a podcast appearance that DOGE is “not a department,” adding, “It's run by two billionaires. Basic government services like Medicaid, Social Security, and veterans benefits are not available to the public.” “These are people who just don't understand how important it is to people.”
“But, you know, there are a lot of Democrats who openly say, ‘I do. [want to] I want to work with them…I want to sit down with this group,' making it seem like this isn't just a TV show or an effort by a billionaire class to privatize government for their own benefit. ” Murphy added.
The Hill reached out to Mr. Ramaswamy, the Trump transition team, and Mr.
Many Democratic members of Congress have expressed openness to working with DOGE, especially when considering cuts to defense spending.
