Elon Musk's Expanding Government Role 'Far Beyond' Appropriate, GOP Senator Warns

Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee is among the first Republican lawmakers to openly express concerns over the growing influence of billionaire Elon Musk within the Trump administration and across federal agencies.

"There's no doubt that the president appears to have empowered Elon Musk far beyond what I think is appropriate," she told reporters Wednesday. "I think a lot of it is going to end up in court," she said, according to The Hill.

She's got that right. Democrats on the House Oversight Committee tried and failed to subpoena Musk on Wednesday in a surprise attempt to get him to testify about his efforts to reshape the federal government. Musk was appointed by President Donald Trump to head the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, though he remains at the helm of Tesla and SpaceX.

Meanwhile, the lone Republican expressed her concerns about empowering Musk to slash programs, such as the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), that have already been authorized and funded by Congress.

"I am concerned if the Trump administration is clawing back money that has been specifically appropriated for a particular purpose," Collins said.

She took issue with the fact that Musk and team did not provide advance notice to Congress when he froze USAID funding, which he called "a criminal organization" that he spent last weekend "feeding … into the woodchipper," according to The Hill.

Read More: DOGE Gains Access To Medicare And Medicaid Systems: Elon Musk Says, ‘This Is Where The Big Money Fraud Is Happening’

Public Money Consolidated In Executive Branch?

As the Senate's top appropriator, Collins is involved in negotiations over federal funding levels ahead of a looming March 14 government shutdown deadline. She's questioned the Trump administration's efforts to consolidate spending authority within the executive branch, arguing that it undercuts Congress' constitutional power of the purse.

Dems Get Into The Act

Later on Wednesday, a couple of Democratic lawmakers “barged” into House Speaker Mike Johnson's office, reported Politico. Reps. Judy Chu (D-Calif.) and Gwen Moore (D-Wisc.) paid Johnson a visit and confronted him about Musk’s team gaining access to a sensitive payment system at the Treasury Department.

"Gwen Moore forced her way in there, and then I got to go in right behind her," Chu told reporters. "And she was already confronting Speaker Johnson about Treasury Secretary Bessent and the stealing of Americans' private information, tax information that should never be stolen and given to this billionaire Elon Musk."

Now Read:

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