Don Beyer Slams GOP Over DOGE Transparency: You Believe Elon Musk's Activity ‘Should Remain Hidden’

8 hours ago

During Wednesday’s House Ways and Means Committee, Rep. Don Beyer (D-VA) discussed the proposed legislation demanding transparency of DOGE's work.

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Transcript

00:00Time has expired. I now recognize Mr. Beyer to strike the last word.

00:03Mr. Chairman, thank you. I move to strike the last word.

00:06Gentleman's recognized.

00:08The resolution of inquiry is simple. Support it and you honor the transparency Elon Musk promised

00:14us. Oppose it and you believe that the activity Elon Musk is conducting should remain hidden from

00:20the American public. The activity where he and his team of special government employees gain access

00:24to sensitive databases. This is one of the concerns I'm hearing in an uproar from my

00:29constituents, including conservatives and Republicans. There's absolutely no reason

00:34those should be trying to access treasury payment systems and confidential taxpayer information

00:39without permission, without approval from the American public in Congress.

00:43I'm deeply concerned that this context is breaking many laws that Congress has put in place.

00:48I led an investigation earlier this week with my colleagues Jamie Raskin and Maxwell Frost

00:54to the Office of Government Ethics inquiring about the potential criminal exposure

00:59of the volunteers and the employees of DoGE to ensure that those individuals know

01:03that their ethical and legal responsibilities under the law, particularly conflicts of interest.

01:08We know that the statute of limitations is up to five years, so that's past the length of this

01:12administration. And violations can lead to criminal penalties of up to five years in prison

01:17with additional financial penalties. And I'm deeply concerned that these violations are

01:21happening left and right. And those fears could be assuaged with the transparency that has been

01:26promised to us. And by the way, who is doing it? Has Marco Elez been rehired to continue working

01:32on treasury payments? You can't tell me that a government efficiency requires self-described

01:37racist access to government's most private information. I urge everyone to support this

01:42resolution and provide much-needed transparency into why and how Musk has sought treasury payment

01:47information in America's sensitive data. If no laws have been broken, there's nothing to hide.

01:53The defining feature of this 119th Congress has been its abdication of responsibility,

01:58running in fear from our constitutional authority on trade, on appropriations, on national security.

02:03My number one question for my constituents is, when will your Republican

02:07colleagues step up and do their jobs? We should not continue that today.

02:12Mr. Chairman, I yield the balance of my time to Congressman Doggett.

02:15Thank you very much. So let's turn to the multiple efforts of DOJ to invade Americans' privacy.

02:24Republicans cannot justify, and have not justified for one second this morning,

02:29why that invasion occurred. And they refuse to bring anyone, they leave the witness chair empty

02:35for us to inquire regarding what happened here and how much damage was done. So we proceed without

02:42full information, but what we do know is that first Mr. Musk sought tax information

02:47that is housed in the Treasury's Bureau of Fiscal Services.

Don Beyer Slams GOP Over DOGE Transparency: You Believe Elon Musk's Activity ‘Should Remain Hidden’

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