Rep. Melanie Stansbury of New Mexico is the ranking Democrat on the House’s new Delivering on Government Efficiency subcommittee—and on Wednesday, she showed why. Along with the rest of the Democrats on the dais, Stansbury stood up for democracy at the subcommittee’s first hearing. She excoriated Republicans for their fealty to billionaires like Elon Musk, the unelected meddler who is supposedly cutting government waste with seemingly limitless power and impunity.
Chaired by the reprehensible Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, the subcommittee purportedly supports the work of the very unofficial Department of Government Efficiency, aka DOGE. President Donald Trump appointed Musk to run the so-called department, which has resulted in chaos as the billionaire and his minions trample through every government agency, recommending and enacting draconian cuts while gaining access to crucial data and information.
“We are going to have so much fun in this committee,” Stansbury said before turning her attention to a video presented earlier by the GOP, which showed President Barack Obama signing a 2011 executive order that set up an oversight and advisory board in a push to limit government waste.
“I actually worked on the waste EO that was referenced,” Stansbury said. “But there is one fundamental difference between the presidents and vice presidents that were shown on that video and what's happening today, and that is that they followed the law.”
“We work for the American people,” Stansbury reminded her colleagues before denouncing Musk and the GOP’s attempts to characterize our federal workforce as waste. “Unfortunately, my colleagues right now are working on a reconciliation deal to cut Medicaid, to cut Medicare, and use that money to give tax breaks to their billionaire buddies. That is the gravy train that is actually going on here.”
“Because this is the oversight committee, let’s do some oversight,” Stansbury said before digging in on Musk’s dangerous desire to hack our Treasury Department.
“This system pays the bills,” she explained. “It pays our soldiers. It pays for the work that we do overseas. It pays your Social Security benefits. It pays your tax refunds. So why is Elon Musk and his hackers trying to access that system?"
"So what is going on here, and why is this such a threat to the American people?” Stansbury proceeded. “We know they're trying to shut down payments. They're trying to shut down agencies. What's next? Are they going to shut down your Social Security payments? We don't know because they have no oversight,” Stansbury added, pointing out that Republicans have blocked attempts to subpoena the billionaire to appear in front of the committee.
“So we are sounding the alarm,” Stansbury continued. “And no matter how many executive orders that Donald Trump signs or how many tweets the VP sends, you cannot rewrite the Constitution and we are going to hold you to account.”
Hear, hear.
You can help ensure that Daily Kos remains the paywall-free home for our shared fight for democracy and justice. Daily Kos is supported by readers like you.
