Democratic lawmakers moved to subpoena Elon Musk following concerns over his recent access to Treasury payment systems and data. Republicans immediately shut it down.
Virginia Rep. Gerry Connelly voiced the motion during a House session Wednesday morning, sharing his concern over Musk's access even though he was not elected by the people to his position.
"Who is this unelected billionaire that he can attempt to dismantle federal agencies, fire people, transfer them, offer them early retirement and have sweeping changes to agencies without any congressional view, oversight or concurrence?" Connelly said.
During a hearing on government efficiency, Democrats move to subpoena Elon Musk and Republicans immediately move to block it without debate pic.twitter.com/phzDsBQdHu
— Acyn (@Acyn) February 5, 2025
The representative requested that the House Oversight Committee subpoena Musk to "come to court as a witness at the earliest possible movement." However, Chairman James Comer stated that the motion was not debatable, which prompted confusion from representatives.
As Republicans moved to table the motion, several Democrats spoke out, with New Mexico Rep. Melanie Stansbury calling the refusal to debate "outrageous."
"Somebody who is breaking the law and dismantling our federal agencies and firing federal employees, attacking personal data, and you will not even entertain a motion to bring him in front of the Oversight Committee," Stansbury shouted into the microphone over protests from Republicans calling her "out of order."
Comer ultimately brought the call to table the motion to a vocal vote, which he declared those in favor of tabling the motion successful despite loud protests from those against tabling the motion.
NEW: I just moved to subpoena Elon Musk to appear before the Oversight Committee to answer for his unlawful takeover of agencies across the government.
— Rep. Gerry Connolly (@GerryConnolly) February 5, 2025
Republicans blocked my motion without allowing any debate.
They will stop at nothing to cover up Elon Musk's lawlessness.
"Republicans blocked my motion without allowing any debate," Connelly said in a post to X soon after the vote. "They will stop at nothing to cover up Elon Musk's lawlessness."
Musk has come under fire recently after reports of him and employees on his task force, the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), accessing Treasury payment systems made their way around social media over the weekend.
The Tesla CEO has also received backlash from users and Democratic lawmakers for his perceived influence in President Donald Trump's decisions. Musk shared on Monday during a live session on X Spaces that Trump "agreed we should shut it down" during conversations about USAID.
Others have pointed out similarities between the Trump administration's email offering employees pay for leaving their jobs to the email Twitter employees received once Musk took control of the app.
However, Republicans have denied accusations that Musk's perceived influence is unwarranted.
"In terms of any decisions made, those are made by the president or the secretary," Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley told ABC News Tuesday. "If Musk wants to make recommendations, wants to go and say, you know, 'We ought to cancel this, we ought to cancel that,' that's fine."
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