Connecticut Democratic Representative John Larson criticized billionaire Elon Musk for not being present to testify at a House Ways and Means Committee hearing about the advisory Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), additionally ripping Musk for pushing for cuts to Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid.
After President Donald Trump appointed Musk to lead DOGE in January, tasking him with rooting out federal government waste and corruption, the department has faced mounting scrutiny. Lawmakers have raised concerns about DOGE’s growing influence on the Trump administration and its decision-making processes.
Musk’s absence from the hearing on Wednesday drew sharp criticism from Democrats, who were seeking clarity on DOGE’s access to Americans' Social Security information and Treasury Department data during its cost-cutting reviews.
Recently, Musk said that the Social Security Administration (SSA) is "the big one to eliminate" as part of his slash-and-burn approach to cutting federal spending.
Larson, visibly frustrated, demanded, "Where is Elon Musk?" while gesturing toward the empty chairs:
"When this committee, the oldest and most continuous in the Congress, neglects its responsibility and essentially holds this hearing today to block any further discussion. The men and women on this committee are good people. They're honest and caring people."
"And that's why I do not understand why you would relegate this committee to no longer being of significance and resort to saying you will do whatever Elon Musk and Donald Trump tell you to do. Where's the independence of the committee? Where's the legislature? We're an equal branch of government."
"And you start off with a blather and yet look at the empty seats here. Where is Elon Musk? I'm sure he's a genius and is a very credible person because of the wealth he's accumulated, but that does not put him above the law or the responsibility to come before this committee in this Congress."
"If he's so great, if these plans and all the fraud and abuse that he found are so eminent, why isn't he here explaining it? You know why; because he's out to privatize Social Security. He's been on television the last couple of days talking exactly about Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid and what he intends to do, privatize it."
"The American people, some of them may have been born at night, but not last night."
Larson shared footage of his remarks to X, accompanying it with the following caption:
"Elon Musk called Social Security a Ponzi scheme and Donald Trump called it a scam. Make no mistake - they want to slash & privatize Americans' benefits. My resolution compels them to provide answers, but Republicans are trying to stop it from even coming to a vote in the House."
You can see it below.
His remarks went viral—and many agreed with his assessment.
Earlier this month, Musk sparked controversy by calling Social Security "the biggest Ponzi scheme of all time." Around the same time, Trump claimed in a joint address to Congress that his administration was investigating alleged widespread fraud in the Social Security program.
Trump stated that government databases list millions of beneficiaries at improbable ages, including individuals over 160 years old, and even claimed the rolls include one person aged 360, suggesting they would have been alive not long after the Mayflower arrived.
There is no evidence to support claims of hundreds of thousands of people over 100 collecting benefits illegally, and no one living in the U.S. is older than 116. In a February 19 statement, Lee Dudek, the acting SSA commissioner, clarified that people listed as over 100 in the system are "not necessarily receiving benefits" but are often individuals without a recorded date of death.
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