Despite not being the president, Elon Musk stands accused of usurping three presidential powers through his Department of Government Efficiency’s (DOGE) efforts to cut costs and downsize the scope of the federal government.
U.S. Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., appeared Sunday on MSNBC’s “The Weekend,” and he was asked if Republicans have joined him and other Democrats to back the “Nobody Elected Elon Musk Act,” which was introduced to rein in DOGE, the cost-cutting agency that has targeted certain government programs.
“At this point, they’re either out there cheerleading for Elon Musk or more and more of them are getting real quiet because they see the public does not like this,” said Raskin, who is proposing the legislation.
“The public does not like the idea that a guy who would not even be constitutionally eligible to run for president is acting as president.
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U.S. Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
“A guy who, if he were president, would be impeached immediately because he’s taking billions of dollars in foreign government emoluments from all over the world,” he added. “And some have actually been talking about impeaching President Elon Musk right now on the theory that he’s usurped the powers of the presidency.”
Raskin said Musk wants to create a “techno monarchy” amid his cost-cutting through DOGE.
“Elon Musk would really like to completely overthrow our system of government and move us into some kind of techno monarchy under the geniuses of Silicon Valley,” he said.
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Musk’s role in the Trump administration has garnered praise from Republicans and drawn the ire of Democrats who worry about his access to government databases and say he is trying to take over the government in a way that’s not transparent.
“The people voted for major government reform,” Musk told reporters Tuesday from the Oval Office alongside Trump. “There should be no doubt about that. That was on the campaign. The president spoke about that at every rally. The people voted for major government reform. And that’s what people are going to get.”
Since President Donald Trump has taken office, DOGE has set its sights on the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Treasury Department.
A judge recently issued a temporary restraining order blocking the Musk-led department and political appointees from accessing sensitive Treasury Department data. Trump has also directed DOGE to probe the Education and Defense departments for wasteful spending.
“Billions and billions of dollars in waste, fraud and abuse,” Trump said Tuesday. “And I think it’s very important. And that’s one of the reasons I got elected.”
Musk defended DOGE, saying the group is targeting bureaucracies that don’t provide anything in return to taxpayers, as well as targeting America’s debt.
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“What we have is this unelected, fourth unconstitutional branch of government, which is the bureaucracy, which has, in a lot of ways, currently more power than any elected representative,” Musk said. “And this is not something that people want. It does not match the will of the people. So, it’s just something we’ve got we’ve got to fix.
“So, what I really would say is it’s not optional for us to reduce the federal expense,” he added. “It’s essential.”
