Democratic Rep Says Musk and Ramaswamy’s ‘DOGE’ Agency is ‘Unconstitutional and Illegal’
Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-CA) scoffed at the proposed “Department of Government Efficiency,” or “DOGE” that Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy are supposed to head up in the incoming second administration for President-elect Donald Trump, calling the concept an “unconstitutional and illegal” usurpation of congressional powers.
Lofgren, a lawyer who was first elected to Congress in 1994 and serves on the House Judiciary Committee, was asked about DOGE by CNN anchor Jim Acosta on Thursday’s episode of CNN Newsroom.
Acosta commented that the topic was in Lofgren’s “wheelhouse” and Musk and Ramaswamy would apparently be visiting Capitol Hill to discuss “their ideas for this thing that they’re calling DOGE, the Department of Government Efficiency, which is a bit of a misnomer because it won’t be a part of the federal government, apparently, but Congress controls the purse strings.”
“What are your thoughts on Elon Musk and Ramaswamy deciding or trying to decide what stays and what goes in the federal government?” he asked.
“Well, it’s illegal,” Lofgren replied. “You know, they haven’t asked to meet with me, but the impoundment of funds that have been appropriated by the Congress is unconstitutional and illegal. There is no such Department of Government Efficiency. It’s made up. So good luck to ’em.”
She added that if there was a “plan” that Trump wanted to propose to Congress, “he should send it to us, but the Constitution does not permit the president to simply avoid what the Congress has done — that power of the purse is with the legislative branch, not the president.”
Watch the clip above via CNN.
