During Wednesday’s House Ways and Means Committee, Rep. John Larson (D-CT) discussed oversight of Elon Musk and DOGE.
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00:00Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
00:06This is indeed a sad morning, a very sad morning, when this committee, the oldest and most continuous
00:20in the Congress, neglects its responsibility and essentially holds this hearing today
00:30to block any further discussion.
00:35The men and women on this committee are good people.
00:38They're honest and caring people.
00:41And that's why I do not understand why you would relegate this committee to no longer
00:49being of significance and resort to saying you will do whatever Elon Musk and Donald
00:58Trump tell you to do.
01:03Where's the independence of the committee?
01:07Where's the legislature?
01:10We're an equal branch of government, and you start off with a blather, and yet we look
01:17at the empty seats here?
01:19Where's Elon Musk?
01:21I'm sure he's a genius and is a very credible person because of the wealth he's accumulated,
01:27but that does not put him above the law or the responsibility to come before this committee
01:34in this Congress.
01:36If he's so great, if these plans and all the fraud and abuse that he's found are so eminent,
01:42why isn't he here explaining it?
01:45You know why, because he's out to privatize Social Security.
01:53He's been on television the last couple of days talking exactly about Social Security,
01:59Medicare, and Medicaid and what he intends to do, privatize it.
02:05The American people, some of them may have been born at night, but not last night.
02:11People are aware of this.
02:13Every single one of your districts, all the money that comes in monthly, and you have
02:19not done, you as a Congress, have not done anything in more than 54 years, and now you
02:26have someone coming in to privatize a system, something you have longed to do going back
02:32to 1982 because Elon Musk thinks that this is the best thing to do.
02:40President Trump has called Social Security a scam.
02:44Elon Musk, as Mr. Neal said, called it a Ponzi scheme.
02:50Ask that of the people in your district.
02:54Ask that, Mr. Smith, of the more than 198,000 people in your district who rely on Social
03:04Security, and you won't even let the person who's planning to privatize it, who's telling
03:10the big lie in front of everyone, as bold as he possibly can, saying, this is what we're
03:17going to do.
03:18The Congress is in our back pocket.
03:21We don't even have to come before them and testify, because we control the House, we
03:26control the Senate, and we control the presidency, and it's the tyranny of the executive.
03:33It's why these revolutions were first adopted back in 1789, because the founding fathers
03:39knew that the executive branch does not have total authority over the legislature, unless
03:48you have a willing party that says, no, we're going to do exactly what you tell us to do,
03:55Mr. Musk and Mr. President.
03:57It doesn't matter to our constituents.
04:01It doesn't matter how much money they are not going to receive.
04:05We're not even going to tell them the truth about what's going to happen to them.
04:10And every single one of these districts where they're being shut down, and their personnel,
04:17and as Mr. Neal said, Dan, after you cut and eliminate the people, say, the agency isn't
04:24responding accordingly.
04:26No other agency operates for under less than 1%.
04:32With that, they administer to over 70 million people in the nation's number one anti-poverty
04:39program for the elderly and children.
04:43Shame!
04:45Shame!
04:47Can't bring people in front of this body.
04:53If he's right, if they're so good, if they're so just, why aren't they here telling the
04:59American people about it?
05:02They're not, because you know the truth.
05:05It's about privatization.
05:08I yield back.
05:10No time to yield.
05:11Mr. Arrington?