Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.) said Thursday on CNN's “Newsroom” that the proposed Department of Government Efficiency, headed by Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, would be “unconstitutional and illegal.”
Host Jim Acosta said: “I'd like to hear about what's going on in the wheelhouse. Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy have apparently come to Capitol Hill to talk about their ideas for this thing they're calling DOGE (Department of Government Efficiency). It seems like we're going to talk about this, but this is part of the federal government. It's a bit of a misnomer because it doesn't seem like the government is in control, but Congress seems to be in charge of the purse strings. What will Elon Musk and Ramaswamy leave behind for the federal government? What do you think about deciding or about to decide?
“Well, that's illegal,” Lofgren said. “You know they haven't asked to meet with me, but the seizure of funds appropriated by Congress is unconstitutional, it's illegal. It created the Department of Government Efficiency. There is no such thing. Good luck to them. In other words, if President Trump has a plan that he wants to propose to Congress, he should send it to us, but the Constitution does not allow the president to simply circumvent what Congress has done. Power belongs to the legislature, not the president.”
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