Lloyd Doggett Slams GOP For Allowing Musk To ‘Invade Individual Privacy’ Of Americans Through DOGE

9 hours ago

During Wednesday’s House Ways and Means Committee, Rep. Lloyd Doggett discussed the privacy risks at stake with Elon Musk's access to private information through DOGE.

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Transcript

00:00Yes, I have a unanimous consent request.

00:03Ms. Van Dyne said that we hadn't asked Mr. Musk to appear before the committee, and I

00:09have here a letter of February 6, 2025, over a month ago, signed by Congressmember Gwen

00:16Moore and myself, asking Secretary Besant and the head of DOJ, Mr. Elon Musk, to appear

00:22before the committee.

00:24Without objection.

00:25And I yield the balance of my time to Mr. Doggett.

00:30Thank you very much.

00:33Today's resolution and our consideration is not the first time we've sought this information.

00:39On February 5, every Democrat on this committee wrote to the Secretary of the Treasury, Mr.

00:45Besant, and the Acting Commissioner, Mr. O'Donnell, at the Internal Revenue Service, and asked

00:51for the same information we are seeking today.

00:53Every same facts that we sought from them over a month and a half ago.

00:59Mr. Chairman, I would ask unanimous consent to put these letters into the record.

01:03Without objection.

01:05And as Ms. Chu just pointed out, the next day, February 6, after a meeting with Speaker

01:12Johnson, they affirmed in their letter, Ms. Chu and Ms. Moore, members of this committee,

01:19that they were looking forward to having Mr. Musk here and others from DOJ.

01:23Because we had an oversight committee set for a meeting to explore these matters.

01:29Were promised that that witness would appear.

01:32And so who came?

01:34Several witnesses who, when questioned, indicated they didn't have any facts.

01:39They could say that DOJ had done nothing because they knew nothing.

01:44And so here we are six weeks later.

01:47This resolution was originally presented to the committee on February the 12th.

01:54Our third attempt to get this information.

01:57And yet, nothing has been forthcoming.

01:59And this morning, we hear, I must say, the very laughable suggestion that the reason

02:06Mr. Musk is not here is because Democrats didn't ask him.

02:11That just doesn't meet a test of the least bit of credibility.

02:15It is as incredible as some of the things that President Trump has been telling us,

02:21like his false claims, really his lie, that people who were of advanced years, 125, 150,

02:30350 years, were getting Social Security.

02:33All done to discredit Social Security.

02:36What is at stake with our privacy?

02:39Well, Mr. Schneider pointed out that one of the issues here is the danger of identity

02:45theft, a serious danger that many Americans have experienced the horror of having their

02:51identity stolen and finding out they have to undo everything that affects their life

02:58because this has happened.

03:00And here we have a group of musketeers who couldn't even protect their own website from

03:05being hacked.

03:07And yet, they may have access to extensive private information.

03:10The second concern I've raised is about tax payments, that people in my district and across

03:16the country are submitting far fewer tax returns than they did last year this time because

03:23many of them are concerned that their data will be exposed.

03:28And privacy overall, there was a time that the Republican Party cared about the privacy

03:34of individual Americans, thought that government overreach was a problem, opposed to national

03:41identification cards and other ways that might be intrusions on Americans.

03:45Well, let me tell you what data the musk and the musketeers were accessing.

03:52Information about every single wage earner in this country and their employer, wages,

03:58their employer tax identification numbers, social security numbers, verified dates of

04:04unemployment insurance, social security records.

04:08And what they have told us this morning, other than these laughable suggestions, is that

04:13the only way that they as Republicans in this new administration can fight waste, fraud

04:18and abuse is to expose the information, the private information of American citizens across

04:25this country.

04:26The only way they can fight waste, fraud and abuse is to invade individual privacy.

04:32And to give it to people like the 25-year-old self-described racists who express particular

04:38disdain for South Asians who are great members of our country, to give it to that kind of

04:43person to do with what they may.

04:46That is wrong.

04:47And this resolution of inquiry does not slow the effort of fighting waste, fraud and abuse.

04:52It does advance the effort of protecting the privacy of every single American and I urge

04:57its adoption.

04:59Are there additional members who wish to strike the last word?

05:04Seeing none, are there any amendments to the resolution?

05:10Seeing none, I will now recognize Mr. Buchanan for the purpose of offering a motion.

Lloyd Doggett Slams GOP For Allowing Musk To ‘Invade Individual Privacy’ Of Americans Through DOGE

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