Hey everybody. Welcome back to the Elon Musk
Podcast. This is a show where we discuss
the critical crossroads, the Shape, SpaceX, Tesla X, The
Boring Company, and Neurolink. I'm your host, Will Walden.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. So, Mr. Chairman, you know, I'm
very discouraged by this hearing and by the witnesses in
particular that you have chosen to give a platform today instead
of having a serious discussion. I'm sure we're going to hear
conspiracy theories as this committee holds what amounts to
basically a pep rally in support of President Trump's illegal
power grab. I certainly agree with this
committee that this committee should conduct rigorous
oversight of federal spending, including wasteful foreign aid.
That's certainly what we should be talking about, and we should
always be working to sort out and eliminate waste and fraud in
all federal programs. And in fact, this committee has
done that for years on a bipartisan basis.
It's a big part of what we do every week as we come together
to consider legislation and deal with the tough issues that we
face as a country. But today's hearing, I'm sure
we're going to hear many of our colleagues on the other side of
the dais of my Republican colleagues here cheer on
President Trump and his cronies like Elon Musk.
And there are illegal and unconstitutional efforts to cut
off foreign aid. And it is not only a sham, I
think it really misses the point on what this administration is
really doing and how far President Trump will go to hurt
American families so that they can pay for tax cuts for
billionaires. We can't have a real debate
about wasteful spending when President Trump has empowered an
unvetted billionaire, and let's say it, an unvetted billionaire
with massive conflicts of interest, massive conflicts of
interest, hundreds of millions of dollars of government
contracts he receives. I would hope we will look at
those hundreds of millions of dollars of government contracts
from Elon Musk as he's cutting off funding to programs that
clearly the administration doesn't understand or they may
not agree with politically. Let's be clear, the Constitution
does not empower a social media billionaire with massive
conflicts of interest that has never been vetted to decide on
how taxpayer dollars are spent. In fact, the Constitution
doesn't even empower President Trump to make these decisions.
The Constitution gives Congress, the and only Congress the sole
power to decide how tax money, taxpayer money is spent.
And for the most part, we pass bipartisan laws to determine how
that money should be spent. But President Trump has directed
Elon Musk and many other cronies to ignore Congress, to ignore
the Constitution, and recklessly and illegally cut off funding
that Congress has passed according to the law.
Not only is it illegal, not only is it unconstitutional, but
President Trump's direction to shut our USAID will have
damaging consequences across the globe and here in the United
States. I'd like to enter into the
record, Mr. I'm in a numerous statements from organizations
and experts that detail those consequences without objection.
That's why my Democratic colleagues and I are most
concerned about what is, what the agency, what federal
programs is going to be next? Where are the dominoes going to
fall after USAID? What's going to be next on the
chopping block? We know President Trump has
already directed his cronies to shut down the Consumer Financial
Protection Bureau. Will they halt Social Security
payments that seniors count on next?
Will they stop Medicare reimbursements and prevent
seniors from accessing health care?
Will they block disaster aid to states that have suffered from
hurricanes and wildfires? Well, I'll tell you, President
Trump and his cronies have already hinted on all of those
resources that Americans count on and more could be shut down
going forward. And it's not just that it's
illegal. It's not just that it violates
the separation of powers. The bottom line is that these
actions hurt American families. And it's our job to fight back.
And that's why Democrats on our committee will be focused on
that today. If this committee is is
seriously about defending American families and Congress's
oversight role, a role, Mr. Chairman, that I know you have
said over and over again as part of what we were going to be
doing here at the committee. Then there's the hearing we have
today should be about examining blatantly illegal activities
that President Trump has led to undermine the laws passed by
Congress and to wreak havoc on the programs and services that
support Americans. Mr. Chairman, I know you've
often talked about how it's Congress versus the executive,
whoever's in the executive office.
That's what's happening right now.
Let's hope we focus on that because we're seeing it in
clear, clearly happening as president, President Trump's
direction, Elon Musk and his minions have illegally cut off
funding that Congress passed to support farmers.
They've cut off funding to support child care centers.
They've cut off funding for life saving Cancer Research.
They've cut off funding for community health centers,
cutting off funding for religious charities and services
that Americans rely on every day.
And it's all been under the guise of addressing waste.
But if the administration is serious about combating waste
and fraud, then the president would not have fired 18
inspector generals, the independent watchdogs who
actually identify waste, fraud and abuse.
Why is Donald Trump firing the watchdogs to waste and abuse?
If the president is truly serious about dressing waste and
fraud and foreign aid, he certainly would not have fired
the Inspector General for the USAID.
And let's remember, this isn't the first time a president has
tested the limits of law when it comes to presidential powers.
We've seen this movie before, but it's the first time that
Republicans in Congress have simply rolled over and let a
president seize power of the Constitution assigns to the
legislative branch. We have the power of the purse,
and I've heard the chairman talk about that many times in our
meetings. But let's look at an example
from history. In the 1970s, when President
Richard Nixon refused to spend money appropriated for child
care, job programs, environmental cleanup programs,
and virtually every member of Congress from both parties
rejected that, passed the Impoundment Control Act of 1974,
which asserted Congress's constitutional power.
And when it passed, it passed unanimously.
Every Republican senator stood up to Richard Nixon and said
this is unacceptable. Now, clearly that was a time
when we did not have feckless Republican senators, but it was
a great time to look at how the we came together to stand up the
presidential power. And it wasn't just Congress.
President Nixon lost in the courts over and over again.
No judge ever endorsed President Nixon's argument that he had the
right to ignore the laws of Congress.
If President Trump thinks his actions are lawful, then his
administration should come forward and be able to answer
straightforward questions from Congress.
They should operate in the light of day instead of trying to hide
what they're doing from Congress, the courts, and
independent watchdogs. Mr. Chairman, I was disappointed
that over the last few weeks I've had a number of oversight
letters that you refuse to sign. I would hope that you'd
reconsider, and I look forward to meeting with you to talk
through those letters in the near future.
And I think also, Mr. Chairman, many of the questions that we
have today about the actions of President Trumpet that has been
directed by Elon Musk. I think that's something that we
should also call in Elon Musk to ask questions, particularly
about his numerous and substantial conflicts of
interest while he's making these kinds of decisions.
And I hope that going forward, this committee will work to
defend Congress's role and responsibilities under the law
and conduct real, meaningful oversight of these lawless
actions by the Trump administration.
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