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Even though Democrats don’t have a majority in the House or Senate, they are still using their oversight authority to conduct informal investigations. The latest investigation has been launched by House Oversight Committee ranking member Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-VA) who wants information from the Trump administration about Elon Musk’s role in the White House.
Connolly wrote to Trump:
On January 20, 2025, you issued an Executive Order titled, “Establishing and Implementing the President’s ‘Department of Government Efficiency.’” In that order, you outline the duties of the USDS Administrator to, among other things, “work with Agency Heads.” This official action followed your November 2024 announcement that Musk would lead the DOGE effort alongside Vivek Ramaswamy, who has since departed the initiative.
You have repeatedly portrayed Mr. Musk as the head of DOGE, including at an Oval Office press conference in which you referred to DOGE as Mr. Musk’s “team” in response to a question, and in which Musk repeatedly referred to DOGE’s efforts as his efforts, saying, for example, that “we post our actions to the DOGE handle on X and to the DOGE website.”
However, in a sworn statement filed with the United States District Court for the District of Columbia, Joshua Fisher, the director of the White House Office of Administration with “personal knowledge of Mr. Elon Musk’s employment status with the federal government[,]” stated under penalty of perjury that Elon Musk “is not an employee of the U.S. DOGE Service or the U.S. DOGE Service Temporary Organization[,]” that “Mr. Musk is not the U.S. DOGE Service Administrator[,]” and that “Mr. Musk has no actual or formal authority to make government decisions himself.”
In direct contradiction to Mr. Fisher’s sworn statement, at a press conference on the evening of February 19, 2025, you stated, “I signed an order creating the Department of Government Efficiency and put a man named Elon Musk in charge.” This contradiction raises significant concerns that either you are lying about Mr. Musk’s role or Mr. Fisher perjured himself—a criminal offense that can lead to up to 5 years in prison.
To understand Mr. Musk’s role and the authorities under which he is exercising widespread access to government data, please provide the following information and documents and answers to the following questions and request by March 6, 2025:
1. Who is the current administrator of the U.S. DOGE Service?
2. What is Elon Musk’s role in relation to the U.S. DOGE Service?
3. Has Mr. Musk ever made a decision regarding the operations of the U.S. DOGE Service or another federal agency?
4. Has Mr. Musk ever issued a directive to a member of the U.S. DOGE Service?
5. What legal authority does Mr. Musk have to access Americans’ sensitive data?
6. An organizational chart for DOGE and the U.S. DOGE Service, including all employees whose email addresses include “doge.eop.gov” or employee presenting themselves as representing DOGE at any federal entity.
Democrats are doing everything that they can do to dig into what is going on with Musk and Trump. What these informal investigations are useful for is to lay the foundation for deep formal investigations if Democrats take back the House in 2025 during the special elections or 2026.
The odds are that Trump will ignore Connolly’s request and not comply, but that should not deter House Democrats from continuing to push and call attention to what is going on.
People need to keep pressuring their members of the House and Senate. Democrats don’t have power, so they can’t do this alone.
Public protest and speaking out are the fuel that can power real change.
Democrats are asking the right questions, and with a little help from the American people, they’ll be able to get the answers.
What do you think about the investigation into Musk? Share your thoughts in the comments below.
