“House Panel Denies Subpoena Request for DOGE”
During the committee meeting, Connolly highlighted Chairman James Comer’s expressed desire to collaborate across party lines for the benefit of the American people. This collaboration was to involve working closely with Elon Musk and his team at DOGE, as mentioned by Comer and reiterated by Connolly. The committee felt it was necessary to inquire about Musk’s actions on behalf of the public, specifically in deploying DOGE resources to various federal agencies, resulting in significant changes such as placing thousands of employees on administrative leave.
The Trump administration had warned federal employees of potential furloughs if they did not accept a buyout offer by a certain deadline. Meanwhile, reports surfaced that Musk’s representatives had accessed Medicare and Medicaid payment systems. Connolly raised concerns about the unchecked influence of an unelected billionaire like Musk in federal agencies, prompting a request to subpoena Musk. However, Republicans swiftly opposed this move, leading to a contentious debate and a subsequent vote in favor of tabling Connolly’s motion. The Republicans ultimately prevailed in the vote, amidst objections from Democrats.
Despite objections, the committee chair upheld the decision, suggesting that Democrats could have invited Musk as their minority witness instead of a college professor.
A series of resignations occurred within a group. The Congressional Research Service, which is an independent research body of Congress, mentioned that individuals who are invited to be witnesses are not obligated to appear if requested. However, committees and subcommittees have the authority to compel unwilling witnesses to attend by issuing subpoenas, as Connolly tried to do.
Attempts to contact Musk for a comment were unsuccessful. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for their opinion on whether Musk should testify before Congress. Musk recently made statements on X platform claiming that his employees at DOGE are highly skilled, qualified, and working in federal agencies with the implicit approval of Trump and the White House.
In a post on X on Monday afternoon, Musk admitted, “Time to confess: Media reports stating that @DOGE has some of the world’s best software engineers are indeed accurate.” Following a post by Stansbury on X the following Wednesday morning, Musk tweeted a photo illustration of himself wearing a black leather jacket, Terminator-style sunglasses, and a large gold chain, sitting at a table with a D.O.G.E. sign and the words, “Can I help you?”
Connolly later commented on Musk’s platform, X, expressing that he had wanted Musk to testify before the Oversight Committee to address his alleged unauthorized control of government agencies. Connolly tweeted that his motion was blocked by Republicans without allowing any discussion, accusing them of trying to conceal Elon Musk’s alleged disregard for the law. This article was originally published by USA TODAY: House GOP panel rejects Democrats’ request to summon Elon Musk over DOGE.
