Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) mentioned Thursday he thinks President Trump’s Division of Authorities Effectivity (DOGE) fee, led by tech billionaire Elon Musk, will discover “awful examples” of wasteful authorities spending.
However he mentioned it’s essential the findings be dropped at Congress, which is answerable for appropriating authorities funds, in keeping with the U.S. Structure.
“I think they are likely to find awful examples of wasteful spending. I don’t contest that. I’m sure they can legitimately offer transparency and sunlight to the American people. Just come to Congress, show us what you’re finding, and then force up or down votes,” Khanna mentioned in an interview on CNBC’s “Squawk Box.”
“And if Ro Khanna still votes for those wasteful spending, I’ll have to answer back home,” he continued.
Khanna criticized Musk’s strategy “just to stop the payments or make these decisions unilaterally.”
“I don’t think it’s effective,” he mentioned, including that Trump and Musk can “actually have a partner with Congress to tell the American people what’s wrong. And if you have a good case, the American people will demand those cuts.”
Khanna, who represents Silicon Valley, has mentioned that he’s open to working with Musk and DOGE to chop authorities waste, particularly pointing to doable cuts within the Division of Protection.
“When the president and Elon Musk mentioned that they needed to carry transparency to authorities, expose waste and fraud, I used to be one of many Democrats who mentioned, ‘OK, let’s work to see the place that may occur,'” Khanna mentioned.
“The problem I have is, come to Congress, show where the fraud is, show where the wasteful spending is and force an up or down vote,” he added. “Don’t make that decision unilaterally. That just, in my view, violates the Constitution. So if he wants to show that there’s a lot of wasteful spending, come to Congress, force us to vote on it.”
