[Congressional Record Volume 171, Number 96 (Thursday, June 5, 2025)]
[House]
[Pages H2499-H2504]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
CONSEQUENCES OF DOGE
(Under the Speaker's announced policy of January 3, 2025, Mr. Min of
California was recognized for 60 minutes as the designee of the
minority leader.)
General Leave
Mr. MIN. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may
have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and
include extraneous material in the Record.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from California?
There was no objection.
Mr. MIN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to speak about Elon Musk and the
Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, and the deadly and
devastating consequences of their illegal actions, which will
reverberate long after they are gone. The theme of today's Special
Order hour is that the Musk is gone, but the stench remains.
Elon Musk supposedly has left the Federal Government. I just want to
remind people that when President Trump issued his executive order
creating the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, and
appointed Elon Musk in the role related to DOGE, DOGE was created as a
temporary organization.
{time} 1750
Elon Musk was appointed as a special government employee, and this
was to avoid having any kind of Senate confirmation or congressional
creation of the agency or any confirmation of Elon Musk.
Mr. Speaker, I will remind you that the entire time that Elon Musk
was in office or as a Federal employee, he was, in fact, exercising
powers that were far greater than any special government employee would
be allowed to have. He was exercising powers that would be at the
highest levels of government, higher than an agency or department head,
[[Page H2500]]
in effect, exerting powers that the President himself does not hold.
He violated the law every single day he was a special government
employee. DOGE employees continue to remain today. Even though Elon
Musk is gone, there are something like a hundred or more DOGE special
governmental employees and other employees scattered around the Federal
Government that are in a position to continue the wreckage that Elon
Musk created.
I know that Elon Musk and Donald Trump have created a lot of news
with their catfighting earlier today, but I will just remind folks,
again, that the damage Elon Musk did is going to take a long time to
repair. What he did, essentially, was try to upend the Constitution.
Elon Musk, as a special government employee, purported to be able to
undo acts of Congress, to illegally impound funds that Congress had
appropriated, to undo laws we have created, and to undo agencies we
have created. There is a long list of stuff that he did, that DOGE did,
including illegally deleting or ending the Department of Education,
ditto with USAID, the U.S. Institute for Peace, and the Consumer
Financial Protection Bureau.
Importantly, most of these were institutions created through acts of
Congress, funded with appropriations authorized by Congress. Even my
children know that the Constitution is clear on this point: Congress
and only Congress has the power to enact laws. Congress and only
Congress has the power to appropriate funds.
It is very clear in our Article I authorities. The President does not
have the authority to try to undo our laws or to impound funds that we
have appropriated. Certainly a special government employee like Elon
Musk does not have that authority.
This is about a core tenet of the Constitution of the United States
that every single one of us in Congress swears to support and defend
when we take office. Yet, too many on the other side of the aisle
during this entire time pretended like this wasn't happening, pretended
like Elon Musk was not violating the law every single day.
Now he is apparently gone from the Federal Government, but the vast
amount of wreckage that he did during his time with DOGE is something
that we are going to have to analyze and understand because there has
been a complete lack of oversight from Congress, including from the
Oversight Committee that I sit on, over these past few months.
There had been reports that Elon Musk and DOGE were given complete
God-level access to the Federal Government's top systems: including
private and sensitive data for all Americans, classified information,
budget information, and payment systems, et cetera.
From a conflict of interest standpoint, Elon Musk has vacuumed up
many billions of dollars in Federal contracts for his companies and
enriched himself. Tesla, SpaceX, Starlink have all profited under
Musk's time as a Federal employee. At the same time, he went out of his
way to kill several enforcement actions that were underway by different
Federal agencies against his businesses, allowing his companies and
himself to evade oversight. He was able to help place key personnel in
agencies that now are looking to benefit his companies financially.
Mr. Speaker, going back to the data privacy point, Elon Musk and DOGE
have allegedly used Musk's AI chatbot, Grok, within Federal agencies.
This model has likely been trained on nonpublic data by incompetent
DOGE workers. DOGE has also sought access to sensitive government data
for millions and millions of Americans, while likely violating the
Privacy Act of 1974 repeatedly.
This is not just a matter of our information being out there,
potentially being used by Musk's AI systems in violation of all laws;
it is also a major national security concern. Bad actors will now have
a much easier time siphoning off U.S. data due to the cybersecurity
vulnerabilities that Elon Musk has created.
Earlier this morning, the Oversight Committee held a hearing on how
artificial intelligence has been integrated into the Federal Government
by Elon Musk and DOGE. Entrusting DOGE with our personal data is not
only a terrifying thought but one that will have terrible consequences
for Americans throughout the country. Trying to automate the Federal
Government through AI without a true plan or any data privacy
safeguards, while firing haphazardly many of the technology support
workers who understood those systems, is going to have a massive
negative impact on Americans.
Mr. Speaker, I see that I have here with me a fellow Member, and I
will concede in just a few moments.
I will continue by saying that many of my constituents right now are
complaining about some of the effects we are already seeing from the
haphazard and illegal cuts to personnel made by Elon Musk and DOGE,
including many who are complaining now that they are having difficulty
accessing their Social Security benefits because of the mass cuts in
SSA.
These are real people that are not getting their benefits. They can't
get anyone on the phone when they try to call Social Security. The
reality is that Elon Musk, again, illegally fired a bunch of workers,
even though he had no such authority to do so.
I will emphasize that this body, Congress, has refused to engage in
any oversight to date over Elon Musk, and the only reason that we may
be able to do so right now is because Elon Musk, apparently, is in a
tit for tat with Donald Trump.
I suspect some of my colleagues on the other side of the aisle will
finally wake up to some of the wrongdoing, some of the illegal actions
that Elon Musk has been engaged in since January 20.
I will also point out that this has never been about waste, fraud,
and abuse. It has certainly never been about efficiency. You don't
eliminate entire agencies and departments as Elon Musk has done, you
don't get rid of 50 percent of the personnel at Social Security, or the
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration if you are simply
trying to improve efficiency and get rid of waste, fraud, and abuse.
This was always about finding enough cuts to try to partially pay for
the massive $7 trillion tax cuts for billionaires that House
Republicans, Donald Trump, and Senate Republicans want to pass right
now. That is what this is about.
There is a slash-and-burn attitude to firing many thousands of
Federal employees. They have attempted to fire hundreds of thousands of
Federal employees, including those at the Consumer Financial Protection
Bureau, the Department of Labor, and other critical agencies.
We have seen this firing be so haphazard that they have had to hire
some of them back, including the decision to fire all the National
Nuclear Security Administration personnel responsible for overseeing
our U.S. nuclear weapons stockpile and then having to rehire them once
they had realized who they had actually fired. He fired key scientists
and pandemic experts, as well, and he repeatedly miscalculated and
misrepresented the savings that DOGE cuts had made to our budget.
They have also made the Federal Government much more bureaucratic and
less efficient. I have a lot of burgeoning life sciences industry in my
district, lots of companies doing medical devices and innovative drugs.
They have all reported to me that they are deeply concerned about the
massive cuts at the Food and Drug Administration because those cuts
mean that they can't get anyone on the phone. They can't find people to
try to prove their drugs and devices, and this has created additional
red tape and hurdles that made it very difficult.
There is a lot of uncertainty right now. These are companies that,
again, are creating thousands and thousands of jobs, providing billions
of dollars in collective impact to the southern California area. We are
seeing this story writ large across the board right now.
Mr. Speaker, I will talk some more about the enormity of DOGE's
illegal cuts, as well as how they have fared in the legal system.
Since DOGE was stood up by President Trump and Elon Musk, it has cut:
About $6.5 billion for the U.S. Agency for International Development;
$502 million from the Department of Education; $232 million from the
Social Security Administration; $192 million from the General Services
Administration; $173 million from the Department
[[Page H2501]]
of Agriculture; $152 million from the Department of Health and Human
Services; $133 million from the Department of Transportation; and $119
million from the Department of Commerce.
We didn't have any transparency into what these cuts were justified
on, what they were meant to do. These were in addition to the attempts
to shutter USAID, the Department of Education, the Consumer Financial
Protection Bureau, the U.S. Institute for Peace, and many other
critical agencies, departments, and programs.
{time} 1800
Mr. Speaker, I will note that the courts have continued to find that
these cuts were, by and large, illegal, that Elon Musk did not have any
authority to undo acts of Congress, and that Congress and only Congress
can shut down agencies that we have created. Congress and only Congress
can defund agencies from funds that we have previously appropriated.
Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from New Mexico (Ms.
Stansbury), the ranking member of the House Oversight Committee's
Subcommittee on Delivering on Government Efficiency.
Ms. STANSBURY. Mr. Speaker, I thank Mr. Min for convening this
Special Order hour. As we are getting set up, I know that we have a
poster that we want to get up here, so let me just start out.
Mr. Speaker, breakups are hard. They are really, really hard, and you
know they are especially hard when they play out in the public eye. I
think anyone who is online right now and watching the very public
breakup of Donald Trump and Elon Musk would understand that.
I mean, if you have watched over the last several days, it has really
been an epic breakup for the ages. In fact, I think it is fit for the
``Real Housewives'' if you have been watching what is unfolding, even
just in the last several hours.
In fact, just a couple of hours ago, Elon Musk affirmed a statement
about actually impeaching the President. I mean, who would have thought
that we would end up here because, literally, less than a week ago,
they were having a bromance in the Oval Office? It is really just
incredible to think about what has happened over the last 72 hours when
you think about it.
I think it is important to understand. I mean, Donald Trump is in
office as the most powerful human on planet Earth as the President of
the United States. Rather than thinking about balancing the budget,
addressing economic free-fall, trying to figure out what to do with our
foreign adversaries, how to help the American people, engaging in the
debate on how to save healthcare for millions of Americans, or making
sure our children are fed in the United States and across the world, he
has instead been so embroiled in the breakup of his bromance with Elon
Musk that they have been going hard at each other all day long.
I wanted to take this opportunity, while we have it, honestly, to
share the tea with all of you because I think, I mean, we all kind of
knew this was coming, right? I mean, we have kind of seen the signs for
the last few days, especially the last few weeks, but I don't think
that many of us thought it would come in such a dramatic form. I want
to kind of break down and put in the Congressional Record what has
actually transpired over the last 72 hours.
I think many of us were shocked when we saw just a couple of days ago
when, on Tuesday at 1:30, Elon Musk tweeted the following. He said:
``I'm sorry, but I just can't stand it anymore. This massive,
outrageous, pork-filled Congressional spending bill is a disgusting
abomination. Shame on those who voted for it: you know you did wrong.
You know it.''
I mean, really, we were quite shocked. I mean, let's be clear: All
215 Democrats have been saying this for weeks, but obviously, things
really boiled over for Mr. Musk on Tuesday.
Then, just a few minutes later, he followed up with another shot at
Donald Trump, where he says: ``It will massively increase the already
gigantic budget deficit to $2.5 trillion (!!!) and burden America
citizens with crushingly unsustainable debt.''
He went on in the following hours to literally accuse Republicans of
making Americans debt slaves. I mean, this is actually what has been
unfolding on the internet for the last several days, but this bromance
is so messy. This breakup is messy as all hell, let me tell you.
Okay, you all know that Thomas Massie, who is a true fiscal
conservative and is pretty much the only Republican in this Chamber who
stands by his convictions and is not willing to sell out his soul for
politics and power, voted against this bill because he read the CBO
report and was not going to go and toe the line for the Republican
Party.
He knew that Speaker Johnson was not telling the truth about deficit
spending. He knew that Donald Trump in his sales pitch was not selling
the truth. He knew it was going to cost $2.5 trillion, at least. We
don't even know what the final cost is going to be.
This love triangle got even messier because both Thomas Massie and
Senator Rand Paul got in on the mess here, so we have Thomas Massie
here retweeted Elon Musk, and he said: ``He's right.'' We saw, just
around that same timeframe, Senator Rand Paul also got involved.
Then, oh my gosh, well, Elon Musk--in a fit of passion, I am sure--I
mean, he dialed it up even further. He said later in the day here--it
looks like it was about 3:32 p.m. on X. It looks like Elon Musk was
retweeting what other people were saying about his attacks on the
President and this big abomination of a bill, and Elon Musk says: ``In
November next year, we fire all politicians who betrayed the American
people.''
I mean, we cannot make this up. This is like the real tea that is
going on, on the internet.
Elon Musk dumped almost $300 million on Donald Trump's election, and
he even weighed in and was like, yo, bro, you wouldn't even be
President and wouldn't have the majority if I hadn't dropped all my
dollars on you.
Then, Elon Musk--actually, this was yesterday afternoon because this
went on all night, right? We were all watching it unfold in real time,
and even just a couple of hours ago, here on this floor, we were all
glued to our phones. We were, like, oh, man, this lovers' quarrel is
getting messy.
Elon Musk, around 2:50 p.m. yesterday afternoon--we were in the DOGE
Subcommittee when it happened. He tweeted this. Elon Musk tweets:
``Call your Senator, Call your Congressman, Bankrupting America is NOT
ok! KILL the BILL.''
You know, I appreciate it. I am a '90s kid. He also tweeted a picture
of ``Kill Bill,'' a Quentin Tarantino reference. We all know where Elon
is coming from.
I want to be clear: I am not a fan. I think we all know that.
We have tried to subpoena you several times to come testify in front
of the Oversight Committee. You have been giving yourself billions of
dollars in contracts. You have been stealing American data. You have
been breaking the law with impunity.
A couple of people asked me earlier how I felt about what is going on
in this lovers' quarrel. I am, like, you know what? You get mixed up
with messy people, you get a messy outcome. It is very clear that that
is exactly what is going on.
I think we have all been hearing the rumors here in Washington, the
breakup rumors. In fact, I think many of us, even on this floor on both
the Democratic and the Republican sides, have heard the rumors that
Donald Trump was getting frustrated with Elon, that he wanted to be on
the helicopter all the time, and that he was following him around,
going to Mar-a-Lago, showing up to these Cabinet meetings, and throwing
all his money around and all that stuff.
In fact, in response to all the drama, Donald Trump fired back on
Truth Social: ``Elon was `wearing thin,' I asked him to leave, I took
away his EV Mandate that forced everyone to buy Electric Cars that
nobody else wanted (that he knew for months I was going to do!), and he
just went CRAZY!''
I mean, this is getting out of hand. This is really, really getting
out of hand.
Then, Donald Trump--really, this is just the tip of the iceberg
because what else does the leader of the free world have to do all day?
I mean, he could try to end wars in the Middle East. He
[[Page H2502]]
could try to negotiate peace deals in Europe. Oh, wait, no. Actually,
he is cutting funding for NATO. Sorry, I forgot about that. In fact, he
just spent his entire day attacking his aggrieved lover.
Donald Trump--let's see, this is June 5 at 2:37--on Truth Social
says: ``The easiest way to save money in our Budget, Billions and
Billions of Dollars, is to terminate Elon's Governmental Subsidies and
Contracts. I was always surprised that Biden didn't do it!''
There is not a lot that Mr. Trump and I agree on, but I am totally
with you, Mr. President. If you want to go after Elon Musk's contracts,
we are here for the fight, bro. Give me a ring, like, for real. We can
get this across the finish line because, I mean, obviously, I know you
guys were feeling the feelings for the first 130 days, and there is
always a honeymoon period, especially after you go through a big thing
together like an election. I know he helped you win your election, but
obviously, now the honeymoon has worn off.
{time} 1810
Mr. Speaker, if you really want to root out waste, fraud, and abuse--
even Donald Trump is saying it. Donald Trump apparently, even this
week, asked his own staff if the entire DOGE effort was bullshit.
I am not trying--I know we are on the floor of the House of
Representatives. To all of the people monitoring, that is a direct
quote of the President of the United States. Let me just be clear on
that.
Obviously, these guys know a lot about each other. They spent a lot
of time with each other over the last few months. They actually know
what is going on.
The battle continued today. In response to Donald Trump's comments
about Elon wearing thin, the Autism Capital account--I don't know quite
what that is--says: ``Trump fires back at Elon. The online battle
begins.''
Elon Musk says: ``Such an obvious lie. So sad.''
We are all sad, right? It is always sad when a relationship ends.
Mr. Speaker, I think this is when things really got heated. This is
why things are really hard when there is a breakup and there is a love
triangle with the GOP. That is these guys over here. There is nobody
here anymore. Just in case anyone is wondering, there are no
Republicans, except the acting pro tempore here.
The thing that is so crazy is we all get wrapped up in our friends
and their relationships. The Republicans were like: Okay, Mr. Trump,
Elon is obviously your bestie, and he spent all this money. So we will
go along with it--even though apparently the Cabinet and Republicans
were really unhappy about it.
They are, like, okay, fine.
Then we are going scorched Earth here now. It was actually really
interesting to me earlier on the House floor. How are Republicans
dealing with it? Honestly, I haven't seen them cheerful in quite a few
months. Clearly, something is about to happen.
Elon Musk--where are we at here on the timeframe here? This was
actually shortly before I came to the floor this afternoon.
Elon Musk tweets: ``Time to drop the really big bomb:
@realDonaldTrump is in the Epstein files. That is the real reason they
have not been made public.''
Then he cheerfully says: ``Have a nice day, DJT!''
We all know what happens in breakups. Obviously, they got the tea on
each other. This is a no-holds-barred breakup fight happening right
now.
Finally, this was the mike drop of all mike drops. Just as I was
walking onto the floor this afternoon, Elon Musk tweets: ``Yes.''
This was in response to some other person, who I don't know, who
treated: ``President vs Elon. Who wins?''
``Trump should be impeached. . . . `'
We have all been through really hard breakups. I don't know if anyone
remembers. Mr. Speaker, 140 days ago or so, it was a lovefest. They
were here in the Capitol. It was so good.
Elon Musk's words were: Yo, President, I am going to save the
government from debt slavery and the deficit.
These bros were on the helicopter every day. They were going to down
Mar-a-Lago.
Elon Musk is now calling for the fricking impeachment of Donald
Trump. That is some serious, serious business.
What does this all mean in reality? It is happening in real time. I
haven't even checked my phone since I started this conversation. There
might be more drama going down just since we started this very
conversation on the floor.
The reality of the situation is they both got what they paid for. Mr.
Musk spent almost $300 million in dark money to pay for his friend, Mr.
Trump, to become the President and to win this Republican majority who
is trying to send our country into the largest deficit spend in
American history.
As for Mr. Trump, this is what happens when he sells his soul. We see
what happens.
I have a lot of love in my heart for people who are going through
hard times. I know that both of them are having a hard time. For the
sake of democracy, for the sake of the American people, and, frankly,
for the global security and safety of people all over the planet, I
just have to say Mr. Trump and Mr. Musk need to cut this drama out. We
need to take care of our people.
I am with Musk on this one. Mr. President, I don't mean to take
sides. I am going to say it. Kill the bill.
Mr. MIN. Mr. Speaker, I thank the Congresswoman for her comments. It
has indeed been a messy day. I think that prices are getting too high
at this moment in time. Elon Musk is, I believe, really inflating the
price of popcorn right now. This is something that is going to affect
my household.
Mr. Speaker, I want to continue back to Elon Musk. Whatever side is
taken in this debate, we cannot forget that Elon Musk, again,
repeatedly violated the law. He made illegal spending cuts. He tried to
eliminate agencies created by Congress. This was not jaywalking. We are
talking about serious crimes against the Constitution of the United
States.
His actions were characterized not only by their illegality but also
by their immorality and incompetence, the three I's.
We saw the immorality as he continued to cut programs that were meant
to help our poorest and most vulnerable.
Social Security is a lifeline program for all the seniors around the
country, including the ones in the district I represent. He called it a
Ponzi scheme.
He cut so much of the workforce. Again, I have many constituents now
complaining they can't get access to their benefits. They can't get
anyone on the phone when there is a mistake. It seems deliberate in its
scope. They have been incompetent.
I have mentioned many of the things they have done as far as firing
the nuclear inspectors and miscalculating DOGE's savings.
They granted a DOGE staffer access to edit sensitive Treasury
systems, prompting an internal forensic investigation.
They gutted the CFPB, only to unsuspend staffers and uncancel
contracts after it became apparent that CFPB could no longer perform
its legally mandated functions.
They inadvertently canceled funding for Ebola prevention. They
uncanceled lease terminations after agency and congressional pushback.
This could go on and on.
The point is that this, again, was never about efficiency. It was
never about finding waste, fraud, and abuse. That was always the big
lie. What Elon Musk was trying to do was reshape government illegally
against the express will of Congress.
Unfortunately, my colleagues on the other side of the aisle failed to
stand up to this abuse of law and this direct attack on our
Constitution and our authorities.
The courts, thankfully, have stepped up. Right now, the Trump
administration and DOGE are embroiled in over 252 lawsuits. They have
lost almost all of these at various stages at the district court and
appellate level, including several in the Supreme Court. They are
continuing to appeal.
Even as this has happened, many of our colleagues on the other side
of the aisle, rather than stand up for Congress' authority under the
Constitution, have tried to go after judges. They have threatened
judges. They have tried to take away some of their authority.
[[Page H2503]]
We saw that most recently in the big, beautiful bill, which I think
Republicans are now realizing was actually a Frankenstein-level
monstrosity of extreme provisions that many of them did not realize
were in there.
One such provision was the one in that bill that would effectively
neuter the judiciary's power to hold any administration official in
contempt. This provision is a little wonky. In essence, it prohibits
Federal courts from enforcing contempt citations which a judge can
issue for noncompliance of a court order.
{time} 1820
Now, what this would do is effectively shield the Trump
administration from wrongdoing and that no judge could enforce any
penalties against the Trump administration for failing to respond to
court orders, for failing to obey the Constitution or the law.
What is concerning about this that is we have found an increasing
number of Republicans who are publicly admitting now that they didn't
realize that this provision was in the big, beautiful bill that they
passed. Of course, we all remember a couple weeks back this bill was
pushed through in the dark of night, after 1 a.m. It was clear that it
was rushed through so quickly that most of our colleagues did not have
time to read it, did not understand what was in it, and did not have
time to have their staffs review what was in it.
This was an unconscionable process that is leading to outrageous
results.
We are also seeing other examples of provisions that my Republican
colleagues were not aware was in the bill. Just earlier this week,
Marjorie Taylor Greene, whom I serve with on the Oversight and
Government Reform Committee, noted that she did not realize that there
was a 10-year moratorium on artificial intelligence regulations created
as part of this big, beautiful bill and said explicitly that she would
oppose it.
She had a chance to oppose it when the bill was on the floor but
didn't read it. I would suggest to my Republican colleagues that maybe
reading the bills that we are passing is a good idea before they decide
to vote on them, particularly when they are rushing it through on a
partisan line vote.
I come from a legal background. I started my career turning down Wall
Street to go work at the SEC to crack down on corporate fraud, and to
uphold the rule of law. I have continued fighting for the rule of law
my whole career, including as a law professor at UC-Irvine.
What we are seeing right now is deeply offensive to the rule of law.
What we saw this last election cycle is Elon Musk spending $290 million
on behalf of Donald Trump and other Republican candidates. Mr. Speaker,
$290 million is a lot of money. That has paid off very well, a very
good return on investment for Elon Musk because his wealth has gone up
$100 billion with a b since he took office.
Despite all the disasters we have seen, and despite the massively
declining sales of Tesla, his net wealth has gone way the hell up. That
is because he uniquely, even as other spending gets cut--willy-nilly
because a 21-year-old coder named Big Balls decides to delete a line of
code--Elon Musk is getting massive new government contracts including
an $8.5-billion contract for Tesla from the GSA for electric vehicles;
a $2.4 billion contract for SpaceLink--which was originally meant for
Verizon but which was canceled and mysteriously then transferred over
to SpaceX which happens to be conveniently owned by Elon Musk--and on
and on and on.
Now this looks like a quid pro quo. This looks like something that
should not be allowed to exist, particularly when you have a man, Mr.
Speaker, who is repeatedly, flagrantly, and knowingly violating the law
every single day and upending the Constitution. The damage to this
country that we are going to see over the next several decades, that we
are seeing already happen right now, is going to be devastating.
Just earlier last week, I had a townhall at UC-Irvine which I
represent. As many people around the country are beginning to realize,
a lot of what is happening right now is threatening our economic
present but also our economic future.
There are massive cuts being made to science and research funding for
universities which have long been the basis for our innovation economy.
Whether in California, Boston, Atlanta, or around the country, we know
that high-end research creates jobs. It leads to innovation that leads
to new companies. It is what has made America great over time. Yet,
right now, those cuts are massive. Right now we have seen NSA, NIH, and
other agencies in the Trump administration illegally refuse to spend
and allocate research funding that Congress has appropriated.
That, in turn, has led already to firing of many grad students of
programs' innovations.
Also, concerningly, we are starting to see the compounding effects of
the attacks on legal immigrants here, people here on student visas.
Mr. Speaker, you may recall that just a few weeks back, the Trump
administration announced that they would be rounding up a whole posse
of students who had minor run-ins with the law. In the University of
California system alone, there were something like 165 students here on
valid student visas who have been arrested with no due process and put
into deportation proceedings. In one case it is because they ran a stop
sign. In another case it was because they were in a domestic dispute.
Their partner called the police. When the police arrived, they actually
found that the immigrant, the person here on a student visa, was not
the abuser but actually probably had been abused. They decided not to
proceed with this. However, because there is a police report, even one
that falsely accused this immigrant, that immigrant was put into
deportation proceedings.
The Trump administration did reverse that policy after public outcry.
We are seeing that the best and brightest foreign students who have
traditionally come to this country, to places like Harvard, MIT, UC-San
Francisco and Stanford, are not coming here. They are going to other
countries right now.
That cumulative effect is draining our future right now. We are
talking about entire industries predicated on technology, on research,
and on life sciences that we expect to see massive declines in in 10,
15, or 20 years.
We are robbing our future right now, and for what?
I don't know, to give Elon Musk a little bit more?
The damage is going to be incalculable across the board. However, I
think the biggest damage that we are going to see is to our public
trust in our institutions.
Right now we are seeing corruption on a scale we have never seen
before in the history of this country. A $400 million Qatari gift of a
palace in the sky to Donald Trump was just the thing that made the
news. Meanwhile, he is having dinners with massive donors who are
giving billions and billions of dollars to his meme coin. We are seeing
bribes happen across the board. We are seeing emoluments over and over
and over to the President and his family. Mr. Speaker, yes, we are
seeing Elon Musk getting a ransom from the Federal Government as far as
new contracts that have personally benefited him to no end.
We have to start enforcing the rule of law in this country. As
someone who has always believed in the rule of law and who has stood
closely side by side with our law enforcement officers, with our
prosecutors, and with those who are trying to uphold the rule of law in
this country and the Constitution, I would urge my colleagues on the
other side of the room to start thinking about that oath that we took
when we took this office to support and defend the Constitution.
Those are not just words. They are the foundation of what it means to
serve in Congress, of what it means to serve in the Federal Government,
and of what it means to be a patriotic American.
Mr. Speaker, if you are not enforcing the Constitution of the United
States and if you are not enforcing the rule of law and standing up for
the authorities of Congress, which is a coequal branch of government
and not a lackey of the President, then what do we stand for?
What are we doing here?
I know that many of my colleagues on the other side are scared of
Donald
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Trump and Elon Musk, frankly, too, but that should be no excuse for not
standing up and doing what is right.
We have to stand up and have an accounting of all the damage that
Elon Musk did during his time at DOGE. Again, he is a special
government employee who never disclosed his conflicts of interest and
who illegally exerted his authority that an SGE should never have and
that the President of the United States does not have.
We need a real accounting of what happened, the damage that has been
done, as well as all of the laws and Constitutional provisions that he
and every other member of DOGE has done. This is the time to do it. I
would urge my colleagues to actually start stepping up for the
Constitution.
Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Members are reminded to refrain from
engaging in personalities toward the President and to direct their
remarks to the Chair and not a perceived viewing audience.
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