Elon Musk has given a savage response to a politician who called for his subpoena.
The tech billionaire has been busy at work dismantling government agencies after taking on the role of head of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
This week, he was granted full access to the Treasury’s federal payment system by Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, according to reports by The New York Times and the Wall Street Journal.
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However, the world’s richest man still found time to shoot a jab over his social media platform X, formerly Twitter.
In Congress, Rep. Gerry Connolly, who is the top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee, condemned Musk’s recent actions as he moved to subpoena the Tesla boss, saying: “It’s a puzzling role for many people, certainly on this side of the aisle, and I think for some on yours, who is this unelected billionaire that he can attempt to dismantle federal agencies, fire people, transfer them, offer them early retirement and have sweeping changes to agencies without any congressional review, oversight or concurrence.”
However, when the motion to subpoena Musk was put forward, it failed to get enough votes.
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In response, Musk wrote on X: “How is this reality? Lmaooo.”
Democrat Rep. Ro Khanna took to X to share why he was missing from the vote.
He said: “I would have voted yes. They called a procedural vote without notice & I like 8 others didn’t make it there on time. Musk’s attacks on our institutions are unconstitutional. He should be subpoenaed & answer to our committee. They should call the vote again with notice.
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He added: “I was in a meeting with the Ambassador to Mexico discussing the terrible tariffs when they called the vote with no notice and then didn't make it on time. They should properly notice and call the vote again.”
Musk was quick to respond, saying: “Don’t be a d**k.”
What is Elon Musk’s new role in the Trump administration?
While DOGE isn’t actually a governmental department, it has been said that it will act as an outside advisor on federal spending, with Musk claiming that he will make trillions of dollars worth of cuts.
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According to The New York Times, David Lebryk, a top civil servant in the Treasury Department, was removed from his position after refusing to give DOGE access.
It is not yet known what Musk might do with this new power, as fears grow that he could have access to confidential information including social security numbers and Medicare benefit payments.
The billionaire has already been making claims about the department.
The Tesla boss wrote on X: “The @DOGE team discovered, among other things, that payment approval officers at Treasury were instructed always to approve payments, even to known fraudulent or terrorist groups.
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“They literally never denied a payment in their entire career.
“Not even once.”
Lindsay Owens, who is the executive director of economic think tank Groundwork Collaborative, shared her thoughts on the possible routes Musk could go down.
In an op-ed for MSNBC, she said: “Musk could also get his hands on the ‘Do Not Pay’ system that lists individuals or contractors the government has blacklisted, theoretically granting him control over whom the government does business with.
“Government contracts have been central to Musk’s $400 billion net worth; his companies have signed billions of dollars’ worth of government contracts.