so did anybody vote for a government of billionaires for billionaires? are you ready to stand up and defend our democracy? what we are in the face of now is an authoritarian takeover of our country and we say hell no! hell, no@ hell, no! the first thing authoritarian dictator wants to do is take down the folks, the inspector general's. we want them restored. we want the inspector general's back in. and then -- and then what happened? he went to the fbi offices and had those who covered the executive branch marched out of their offices. that is so wrong. we want to the fbi looking at trump and his team. then replace the regular news with propaganda. you see him taking the mainstream press and putting in the right wing crazies to mislead the american people. how about we make sure the people know through every possible network that this authoritarian takeover is happening and it is not ok? we are going to make that happen. and the constitutional crisis is on us. it is here. they are transferring the power of the purse to the president. there was a fellow c

it's all to pay for billionaire tax cuts, and elon musk will use the information for billionaire tax cuts. all of you today, this smash and grab by elon musk is going to stop. the way it's going to stop is through you. think you for being here today. god bless everybody who is here. thank you so much. and now i want to introduce my great colleague from the state of maryland, who is fighting for us, who represents so many of you, senator van hollen of the great state of message -- of maryland. >> is great to see all of you here. i see a sign there saying stop the lines take over. are going to stop elon's takeover? >> yes! >> you bet we are. this is the most corrupt bargain we've ever seen in american history. elon musk gives $250 million to elect donald trump, and donald trump turns over the keys to the united states government to elon musk and his billionaire friends and his cronies. are going to let that stand? >> no sen. van hollen: hell no, we are not going to let it stand. this is happening at the justice department. what we are witnessing is the biggest heist in american history

this government does not belong to billionaires. it belongs to the people.hat trump and musk are doing is unconstitutional. we demand elon musk to be removed from any role at the treasury department and from the federal government entirely. we are committed to using every tool at our disposal to stop this power grab. and with that, i will recognize now the chairman, the ranking member, soon-to-be chairman of the natural resources committee, representative hoffman. >> thank you, folks. and good morning. happy to join my colleagues here in pushing back against elon musk and his fake officials, his tech pros that are rummaging through our most sensitive data without authority, in violation of the law. and i'm so pleased that we're beginning to litigate and confront this in the courts, that there's this great public awakening that's happening, and the outrage is building. here in congress, my colleagues and i stand ready to do our part to say no to this outrageous attack on our democracy and our personal rights. so we learned this week that elon and his tech bro

not the billionaire class. instead, one man, elon musk, can now decide if hardworking americans receive their tax refunds, when they receive their tax refunds, even who among us will receive one. democrat or republican, independent or unaffiliated. nobody in this country agreed to give an unelected oligarch their home address, social security number, bank routeing information or account number, individual child support obligations, medical information and more. he just took it. illegally. and trump let him do it. and what's going unaddressed by this co-presidency is really too important to ignore. the trump taxes, also known as his tariffs, are raising prices on anything coming from some of our closest trading partners. and eroding those trading relationships at the same time. eggs in nevada are now $9 a carton. the price for a pound of beef could hit $25. and gas, which was going down, could rise back up to $4 a gallon or more. and it won't stop there. toys for children, food on our tables, the technology we r

nothing wrong with being a billionaire. we all can aspire to be a billionaire. it is the favoritism and discriminatory use and effect of our laws benefiting them at the illegal expense of everyday americans, whose taxpayer money has been stolen. grifted, thieved. i have no doubt every single one of my colleagues, even on the other side of the aisle, who have remained silent or complicit, have been inundated with requests for help from their constituents. and my republican colleagues know well, red states and blue states receive funding from the federal government. in fact, i saw a statistic in "the new york times" that something like 80% of all the infrastructure money has gone to congressional districts represented by republicans. don't hold me to the 80% number, but that's approximately what it was. which is not to say they shouldn't receive that money, if they're entitled to it under the formula that congress establishes based on need or other factors. doesn't matter whether they're red or blue. the law ought to be executed fairly and faithfully, implemented

government to give other billionaires a tax break. our answer is hell no. and as much as donald trump and elon musk want, this is not a dictator ship and will not allow it to become one ever. we're going to fight and we're going to win! >> enough is enough. we will not stand for this. this is illegal. this is wrong. and this is unconstitutional. it takes an act of congress to shut down usaid. but you know what, congress will not let this happen. we will not let this happen. usaid keeps people fed and fights wars and part of the american values we hold dearly and share with the rest of the world. the work of the usaid is most important and we must protect it and fight for it. rep. subramanyam. and we will call for hearings on the subcommittee and ask for answers and demand answers why this is happening. but most importantly, we'll not let it happen and we will fight for you, for all the people on usaid for their health care and food security and the men and women that serve and work for usaid, the contractors and civil servants, we'll

oh, let's say with some of those other billionaires who want to be billionaires like him, the competition, i don't know, bezos and musk for spacex suddenly now who has the advantage there? you know. so bezos is sitting in that line at the on the at the dais on the on the dais for the inauguration. but who has the real power there is that shared among those billionaires? no, it's elon musk. and so there's a different dynamic going on here as well that that donald trump has already acceded to by saying they must go out here and create efficiencies in my government. do with it as you want, do to whomever you want, whatever you want, and be happy with that. and that's where we are right now. until it no longer serves donald trump, as we saw with the hb1 visas. >> yeah, all important points. michael steele, good to see you. everyone can check out the weekend this weekend backlash over trump's ag basically admitting a revenge plan. we also have a former federal prosecutor who dealt with jan six. we're going to learn from six. we're going to learn from experts everywhere but the seat. the seat i

no, they want to redistribute the public funding to their billionaire buddies. that's what they are all about. a $6 million donation to governor greg abbott in texas, largest political donation in our history specifically because he wants public education dollars from the federal government and our state governments to quit going to public school teachers and students and to go to his friends that run private companies that capatalize on our public school dollars. that's what this is all about. look no further than the fact that after elon musk invested $250 million, his wealth has grown by $160 billion since the election. they are taking your money and take money out of your schools and take money from your teachers and think your taxpayer dollars is for them and it is house democrats, the american public and calling on from just to be a couple of republicans to grow a tiny bit of their spine to stop having our taxpayer dollars, your dollars stolen by people that already have ungodly amounts of money and are determined to take yours. they think that your labor

and doing the bidding of an unelected, unaccountable, out of control, billionaire puppet master. why does elon musk and his minions need access to the names, social security numbers, addresses, birth dates, and bank account information of millions of americans? why does he need that information? what are they doing with it? and why aren't house republicans stopping them? they're not stopping them because they're not working in the best interests of the american people. they're simply following far right extreme orders. that is why we are introducing the taxpayer data protection act to shield the american people from this out of control power grab permanently. and to make sure that the financial, personal, medical and confidential information of the american people is protected. in that regard, so thankful for the leadership of congresswoman hayley stevens. and congressman sean castint. -- castin. and it's my honor to yield to congresswoman stevens, thank you. >> thank you, mr. leader. it is truly serious and absolutely essential that i'm standing up here today with you as our dem

so he can give other billionaires a tax break. our answer is hell no. we live in the united states of america. as much as elon musk and donald trump want, this is not a dictatorship, and we will not allow it to become one ever. and we are going to fight and we are going to win! [applause] >> enough is enough. we will not stand for this. this is illegal, this is wrong, and this is unconstitutional. it takes an act of congress to shut down usaid. congress will not let this happen. we will not let this happen. [applause] usaid keeps us safe. it prevents wars, keeps people fed, keeps people healthy, and it is the shining example of democracy and of the american values that we so hold dearly, that we share with the rest of the world. the work of usaid is so important and we must protect it and we must fight for it. [applause] as the chair of the subcommittee on military and foreign affairs on the oversight committee, we will call for hearings and we will ask for answers. we will demand answers on why this is happening. most importantly

or is it a government of the billionaires, by the billionaires, and for the billionaires? federal workers don't serve a president or his billionaire buddies, let me say that again. federal workers don't serve a president or his billionaire buddies. they serve the american people. and we stand with them. and with that, i yield back. mr. ivey: thank you, mr. speaker. how much time remains? the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman has 27 minutes remaining. mr. ivey: thank you, mr. speaker. i yield two minutes to representative hoyle of oregon. ms. hoyle: thank you. i rise today in support of our nation's federal workers. as a member of the labor caucus i'm proud to stand with these public servant who was dedicated their careers to delivering for the american people. this administration has relentlessly attacked these nonpartisan expert workers who make sure our food is safe to eat, our water is safe to drink, and our air is safe to breathe. as a third generation union member, i am particularly outraged by the obvious intimidation and union busting tactic this is this -- that th

to stop stealing from the deserving to further enrich the billionaire class. three gop members could end this today. now, i will turn it over to our distinguished chairman of the house. >> thank you, and they want to thank the leadership of haley stevens and sean casten for introducing this bill because house democrats will not sit by as an unelected billionaire with controversial ties to china is given access to the most sensitive personal data about the american people. and potentially use that data to illegally cut programs that are vital to our national security just to help pay for tax cuts to benefit his own bottom line. will not stay silent as house republicans surrender congress's constitutional power in order to allow maga extremists and conspiracy theorists to continue. we know our colleagues are just as outraged as we are, but they have to keep quiet out of fear of retribution from their extremists. we only need three republicans with the courage of their convictions to join our efforts to protect the american people from this extreme and illegal ov

billionaires surrounding donald trump are trying to own the democracy. they're trying to move the vision of this country away from citizenship to ownership. and vought as omb director would be a disaster. it would be a disaster for the people who rely on crucial government programs to make life more affordable, i'm thinking right now about the veterans that i serve in a military state. they are the best among us. they deserve the best from us. they have been imperiled by the actions of the last two weeks. i'm thinking about families who need accessible child care. this stunt that was pulled a few days ago is a disaster for communities who want well-funded law enforcement, thriving businesses, safe roads and bri bridges, and as they attack federal workers, attack the government, they're trying to convince you that the government is some third endity outside of us -- some third entity outside of us. no, this is by the people, for the people, of the people. this is the highest of our aspirations, what we're trying to achieve together. as we witness this ass

it's an astonishing display of corruption, a billionaire c.e.o. who is not confirmed, who is accountable to no one, and who donated millions to donald trump's election campaign is now in charge of the treasury department's payment system. he's doing what vulture capitalists have done to american businesses across the country. they come in, do a hostile diswrierveg, strip a company -- takeover, strip a company of its parts and lay off 1/3 of the hardworking people who make the company run. you know what the difference is? this company is the united states of america. this company's -- the parts that he's stripping out are our private information and they're attempting to dismiss committed workers who make this country run. and they're ripping the american people off in the process and donald trump is co-signing all of it. the richest man in the world now has access to the personal information and financial information of millions of americans, including social security numbers and bank account details. this unprecedented breach of public trust puts

donald trump, billionaire. elon musk, billionaire. scott bessent, billionaire. linda m{l1}c{l0}mahon, billionaire. howard lutnick, billionaire. charles kushner, billionaire. and the list goes on. the total network of billionaires in the trump administration is it at least brs 382 billion. that is more than the gdp of 172 different countries. elon musk, first buddy and head of the department of government efficiency, is worth $410 billion. he is $115 billion richer than he was on election day. linda mcmahon, scare of the department of -- secretary of the department of education, $3.23 billion. howard lutnick, $1.5 billion but likely more. many kelly loeffler, head of the small business administration worth $1.1 billion. robert f. kennedy jr., nominated for the department of health and human services, estimated to be worth about $15 million, and ep has refused to give up a lucrative arrangements with a law firm that will enable his family to make millions on vaccine related lawsuits. steven -- take this piece. elon musk plowed it at least $260 million into efforts

billionaires, corporations, private equity firms, they're doing fine. like, they don't need our schools. they don't need our schools. frankly, there's plenty of evidence to show that when they get their hands on fundamental public services, they do it worse. for instance, if you look at nursing homes that are owned by private equity firms versus nursing homes that are not for profit, the not for profit homes are better quality homes, are better quality homes. less people die in nursing homes owned by not for profit organization than die in nursing homes that are owned by private ekt. why? because private equity exists not to keep patients alive. i'm not saying that the owners of these companies aren't moral human beings, i'm not saying they're indifferent to life, but their bottom line is how much money did we make? and there are certain sectors of public life, like the end of your life, like my kids' education, leak whether i'm safe -- like whether i'm safe at the airport, i don't want profit to be the motivating factor. so it's important to understand

how do we know doge won't use its access to the treasury to enrich donald trump's billionaire friends? what if they go after business competition of doge's leadership? it is laughably naive to look at the wealthy billionaires who run doge and take them at their word that all they care about is efficiency. give me a break. the treasury department must revoke doge's access to the treasury payment system at once. we must halt this unlawful and dangerous power grab. doge has no business anywhere, anywhere near the federal government's payment systems nor america because a private data system. senator murray. sen. murray: well, we're two weeks in and it is already painfully clear this is the most corrupt administration in our history, and it's putting our economy, our government, and our most at-risk communities in serious jeopardy. in particular, we learned that elon musk now has access to the treasury department's most sensitive payment system, handling $6 trillion every year and managing nearly all federal disbursements. it's a system that contains extremely sensitive personal and comme

the billionaire takeover of government. i'm sure we'll talk about this, but elon musk is inside our federal agencies. it's alarming. >> martha: they want to cut the federal budget. they would all disagree it's corruption or anything else. they want to cut the federal budget, and the work force. do you have issues with that? >> well, i don't, but there's no evidence that that is the goal. ultimately at usaid, they sent a whole bunch of people home who are still getting paid, and i think you have to ask, why are they doing this if it's not actually accruing any savings? and to me, again, the reason is that somebody like elon musk stands to gain from the closure of usaid. it makes america much less safe around the world, but it helps china. usaid is a thorn in the side of the chinese government. elon musk has many major business interests at stake inside beijing, and so making beijing happy is going to accrue to the financial benefit of elon musk and many billionaires who outsource work to china. >> martha: senator, you have t

some of them are also billionaires. some of them have left their companies to do this work, not musk. he has basically arranged a loophole where he is a, quote, special government employee. we don't know at this hour exactly what that means and how much compliance he's done with background checks or other things that are designed to protect you, the taxpayer and the united states. his allies now say that he wants to use experimental ai as a key part of governing, the times reports. those ai tools would mostly be used to try to cut the budget, which raises the question, and we've been very open to tech on this program. there's a lot of interesting ai. we've had some ai engineers on this show, but if you elect all these humans to govern you, why would you want to just hand the keys to a billionaire known mostly for self-enrichment and ai tools, which again, he makes money from? he's been involved in multiple ai businesses. why would you want them to make these decisions instead of humans? and if it sounds a little odd tha

, by the billionaires, and for the billionaires that will stick it to the american people. that's what's driving much of the behavior on the other side of the aisle, because at the end of the day, my house republican colleagues are determined to pass massive tax cuts for their billionaire donors and wealthy corporations and then stick working class americans with the bill. by doing things likening medicaid as we know it. we won't stand for it. we will push back against it. and because we're confident that the american people are on our side, we will stop it. sen. schumer: questions on this subject. reporter: republicans have argued this is not an effort to cut government quite yet, this is just a review process. they're looking at how the money is spent and that they're trying to come up with a plan to make sure it's spent correctly. is your issue with the process here or is your issue that elon musk is the one in charge? sen. schumer: our issue of course is with the whole process, secret, behind closed doors, and you say they don't want to cut -- look, we saw when they tri

, by the billionaires, and for the billionaires that will stick it to the american people. that's what's driving much of the behavior on the other side of the aisle, because at the end of the day, my house republican colleagues are determined to pass massive tax cuts for their billionaire donors and wealthy corporations and then stick working class americans with the bill. by doing things likening medicaid as we know it. we won't stand for it. we will push back against it. and because we're confident that the american people are on our side, we will stop it. sen. schumer: questions on this subject. reporter: republicans have argued this is not an effort to cut government quite yet, this is just a review process. they're looking at how the money is spent and that they're trying to come up with a plan to make sure it's spent correctly. is your issue with the process here or is your issue that elon musk is the one in charge? sen. schumer: our issue of course is with the whole process, secret, behind closed doors, and you say they don't want to cut -- look, we saw when they tri

we will also not support massive tax breaks for republican billionaire donors and wealthy corporations while doing nothing to lower the high cost of living for every day americans and sticking working-class americans with the bill. it is hypothetical because we have been waiting day after day, week after week, month after month for the republican budget proposal. where is it? what's the problem? you have lectured america that you have a big mandate. where is it? reporter: speaker mike johnson that democrats have been been unresponsive over the last couple of days with respect to negotiations. can you update us where things stand? what's your response? mr. jeffries: projection. reporter: can you elaborate? mr. jeffries: first of all, republicans control the house, the senate and the presidency and every vote that they need as we have been lectured to do whatever the heck they want to the american people. let's be clear about that. it's not democrats saying that. that's republicans. that's the whole idea behind the so-called budget reconciliation process. republicans have told america re

>> oh, well, i think right now we are fighting billionaires with billionaires but i don't know if that's taxes -- no taxes on tips. everybody's like, that's weird, doesn't really show empathy for working people but now we see is going to be the first president that accepts tips. and i think that made him feel kind of a kinship. >> stephen: tommy, you're a foreign policy guy. he said america is going to be the envy of every nation. we are already an enviable nation. how are our allies and even our adversaries, how are they perceiving this, from what you know? >> i think a few months ago a lot of them did envy the fact that we bounced back stronger from covid that i think any other country. but i think now they're pretty anxious. i was talking to a german lawmaker this morning who was getting ready for their elections coming up in february. they are worried about tariffs hitting the german economy. they are worried about support for nato. they are worried about far right parties across europe during better and parties that are getting boosted by people like elon musk. >> stephen: did i hea

this is government of the billionaires, by the billionaires, and for the billionaires. but so you notice, i don't think he's cutting. i haven't seen any reporting that he's cutting any of the many contracts that go to companies run by elon musk in that billionaire boys club that apparently is running our country. so president musk cuckoo. trump can do you know what it's going to help billionaires. democrats have to get back to their roots. they lost this election because they lost voters who make less than $50,000 a year. that's a heartbreak for me. it's an enormous accomplishment for mr. trump. but he is stabbing those guys in the back right now. do you think there's a single steelworker in pennsylvania or farm worker in wisconsin, or auto worker in michigan who's helped by their schools getting less funds, and elon musk and the billionaires getting more. so that's where democrats need to go. they can't answer everything. they can't respond to to this flooding the zone. they got to keep the main thing, the main thing. and it's the middle class stupid. >> i want to ask

by trump's decision to hand over policy to the billionaires.hat i'm telling you, i think, may be true, elon musk is running our foreign policy today. he's running his foreign policy in order to enhance his personal financial interests. and so part of the reason that usaid is being dismantled is possibly likely that it helps donald trump's billionaire buddy. people hate that idea. people hate the idea that our domestic and foreign policy is in the hands of billionaires who have self-interest on the table. and so if you talk about it as a core issue of corruption, that probably translates to a lot more people than if you just try to explain why usaid matters on the merits. i think you should do both. but we but but it is a story about corruption as well. the question is then, is that message one that's getting across to voters? and as you know, some of the strongest criticism has come from those who support democrats, sometimes a little tongue in cheek. i want to get your reaction to this clip from jimmy kimmel last night. have a watch. >> there'

you don't just have a voice if you are a billionaire. if you have a voice. you don't just have a voice if you are president of the united states. you don't just have a voice if you are connected or elected. [no audio] to stop federal funding just about a week ago. we are not powerless. we have agency. this is a democracy. one person matters. everyone matters. the last way we have to fight is by standing together, building our coalition, reaching out to people. just because you don't agree with everybody on everything, pull them into this fight because the work that usaid does is to protect america. the work that usaid does is to protect americans from terrorism and instability. protect americans from infectious diseases. protect americans and the global order that helps this nation thrive. you all know what you do with bullies. you stand up to them. but this is not a playground. this is our nation. donald trump will not win. history is replete with leaders like him that try to divide, try to tear up constitutional orders, try to break the law, try to demean

these unelected billionaires. they will consistently tell you private is better, but meanwhile the poverty gap keeps growing and laying off people. while americans just remain low, the multimillion dollar bonuses keep getting bigger. republicans are pushing the cost cuts so they can pay for their tax cuts. working-class americans will not be benefiting from the tax cuts. but elon musk and the tech billionaires, trump's cabinet officials certainly will. working-class americans will be paying the price in jobs and lack of regulations and the loss of government services like medicare and social security. instead of a federal government designed to serve all people, trump is doing everything he can to turn the government into a tool to serve just one group, the rich oligarchs he calls his friends. thank you for your time. thanks to the panel. i yield back. >> chair recognizes mr. timmons from south carolina. rep. timmons: thanks. i want to thank the witnesses for being here today. i do my best to work across the aisle

the billionaire arose and all of those that must go out of here.lon musk is not been elected to anything. elon musk should not have access to her personal financial records. we do not need people running our government who have not gone through security clearance. that same spirit that elon musk has coming from south africa and peter teal coming from south africa we are not going to have apartheid in america anymore. look at how this started. they started with a ban on our books. then they started with the ban on women's bodies. then they started with the ban on our medicine to the poor. not the sort of band on the age of those who needed the most. now we are seeing the most powerful man in the world, donald j trump. resume the richest men in the world, elon musk take the money and food from the porous woman n and poorest man on earth. it is time. it is time that we tell those of mar-a-lago, the billionaire brose it's time f for them to g. in the words of the civil rights forward ever, backwards never. forward ever, backwards never. >> i got it, i

and billionaire corporations. i see my friend, senator murphy, is here, and you know it's a little bit like old times to see you on the floor at 2:00 a.m. and it used to be easier when i was on hawaii time, but i've been here for a couple weeks, so this is actually late for me. i just with a with to recognize that. we've got most democratic senators speaking at some point through this 30-hour speared, but -- 30-hour period. but murph decided to take the 2:00 to 5:00 shift, so i hope you haven't had too much mountain dew at this point. so i would be happy to yield to the senator from connecticut, and with the permission of the chair, i ask unanimous consent to engage in a colloquy without having to go through the chair every time. the presiding officer: without objection. s why ever mump muff just for the -- mr. murphy: just for the record, senator schatz, it is diet mountain dew. mountain dew is disgusting. diet mountain dew is acceptable. mr. schatz: i did not know that this whole national is powered on celsius.

you had larry ellison, the head of oracle, another billionaire. howard lutnick, a billionaire. and obviously, donald trump himself says he's a very wealthy man. you have elon musk, the world's richest man. so you have this cadre of very wealthy individuals setting these policies and speaking to some people on wall street. the american economy, because, you know, they don't want the impact of that. but it's really interesting when you just look and see who's around andwhohe�*sgiving shout .. . . .. .. these various bills. what's your guy's view on that? it has to be the wealthiest cabinet in history. even his ambassador picks, right? you know, you've got tom barrack, who's been a long—time friend and donor. and as the ambassador of turkey, you have charles kushner, jared kushner's father for france. um, and and steve witkoff, envoy to the middle east and it's these, these people who are in the room with him. i mean, the one thing that, you know, i think we've all learned so it's whoever's in the room with him influencing how he's thinking about something, you know, influencing h