Democrat lawmakers are sounding the alarm about billionaire Elon Musk, an unelected individual who has unprecedented access to the federal payment system.
In an exclusive report, The New York Times revealed that Musk now has access to the federal payment system, and he could disrupt payments such as social security checks.
The revelation puts President Donald Trump on a collision course with lawmakers in Congress who fear they will lose access to millions in government funding.
Trump put Musk in charge of a newly created DOGE department to eliminate government waste.
Texas Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett sits on the DOGE subcommittee, so she has a firsthand look at what is transpiring.
Crockett voiced her concerns on MSNBC regarding Musk’s unprecedented control over government payments.
“With people already having angst about Elon Musk and the things that he does as it relates to technology, this is not instilling anything more than another layer of fear,” Crockett said.
She explained that Musk, with no security clearance, now controls a $6 trillion system that disburses payments to Americans and contractors. Crockett questioned how an unvetted individual is allowed to run amok in Washington, DC.
Musk and his band of young computer hackers – ages 19-24 – locked federal workers out of their computer networks and gained access to sensitive government databases.
Musk even bragged that he shut down a tax filing system that allows low-income Americans to file their taxes for free.
In a tweet on Monday, Musk said the IRS’s Direct File website, which allows taxpayers to file their returns directly to the IRS for free, had been “deleted.”
But the website is still active as of Wednesday morning, Feb. 5.
Nearly 2 dozen House Democrats held a rally outside the Treasury Building on Tuesday night.
“We have got to tell Elon Musk: Nobody elected your ass,” Democratic Rep. Maxine Waters of California told the crowd of 3,500 people. Some people held signs that read “Nobody Elected Elon” and “Deport Elon Musk.”
“Elon, this is the American people,” Democratic Rep. Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts told the crowd. “This is not your trashy Cybertruck that you can just dismantle, pick apart, and saw the pieces of.”
Over 20,000 federal workers have accepted Trump’s buyout offer to quit their jobs and receive their paychecks until September.
Since he was sworn-in on Jan. 20, Trump has signed hundreds of executive orders. One executive order asked a million WFH employees to quit their jobs. But other federal employees are being fired without warning.
Dozens of FBI agents who worked closely with the Biden administration to investigate Trump in 2024 were let go. Trump and Musk have ordered information on another 5,000 FBI employees who may soon be out of jobs.
In her comments on MSNBC, Congresswoman Crockett expressed concerns about Trump giving Musk unlimited power.
“We have a thug in charge!” Crockett told MSNBC on Sunday. She added we “may not have a United States” soon. She said Trump is doing everything he can to get rid of “checks and balances”.
“Americans thought that it was okay to take a full-fledged criminal and make him the president of the United States,” she said. “And then they want to act aghast when he does criminal things.”
