We confronted Speaker Johnson over DOGE. His response is cause for concern.
Washington,
February 17, 2025
We confronted Speaker Johnson over DOGE. His response is cause for concern.Rep. Gwen Moore and Rep. Judy Chu Insults toward women in politics are nothing new, so we are wearing being called “rude,” “aggressive” and “unhinged” last week as a badge of honor. This is not a time where business as usual can be our strategy. After reports began surfacing about Elon Musk’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency having access to the Department of Treasury payment systems, our constituents were understandably alarmed. They bombarded our phones rightly demanding answers to why an unelected and unvetted billionaire — and other unqualified individuals with troubling backgrounds — was granted access to sensitive Treasury payment systems and the confidential, personal information contained within. Does no one outside of Musk and his team know how this data is being handled and used? Is it being manipulated? Are back doors into the system being added? Where is any extracted data being maintained? Protecting the systems’ integrity is a matter of national security, economic security and personal privacy. We sought answers to these questions and more from the source: Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who had given Musk and DOGE that access. So, after learning that Bessent had a scheduled meeting last Wednesday with Speaker Mike Johnson and House Ways and Means Chairman Jason Smith to discuss passing more tax cuts for the wealthy, we marched to the speaker’s office to get those answers. The DOGE team’s attack at Treasury began with Musk’s allies reportedly pressured the department’s highest-ranking career official to gain access to the department’s payment systems. That official, who had worked under 11 different treasury secretaries from both parties, ultimately resigned rather than follow an unlawful order. He was right to be concerned: The Treasury systems dispense 95% of federal payments every year. They ensure that seniors, government employees and taxpayers receive their Social Security checks, paychecks and tax refunds, among other things. Protecting the systems’ integrity is a matter of national security, economic security and personal privacy. Management of payment systems has historically been done by career civil servants who have been thoroughly vetted and granted proper security clearances, through carefully designed procedures. In fact, Section 6103 of the Internal Revenue Code states that unauthorized disclosure of confidential taxpayer information is a felony. There is no room for error. A technical glitch in the payment systems in 1979 that delayed checks to a small number of bondholders caused a spike in Treasury yields. A more systemic issue in the issuance of payments, or intentional political tampering with payments, could trigger dire economic consequences for our nation and the global economic order. These responsibilities are far too serious for Musk and his unqualified team. But President Donald Trump operates with minimal ethical restraints and no concern about whether those who work for him are qualified. His Republican allies in Congress have so far provided no check on his lawless actions or dangerous nominees to Cabinet positions. And after Musk contributed $277 million to Trump and other Republicans in the 2024 campaign, the richest man in the world has been granted this unprecedented level of extra-executive powers to undermine the federal government and adversely affect the lives of tens of millions of Americans. We know that Democrats and other concerned citizens will need to be creative and, in the words of the late Congressman John Lewis, make good trouble. Most of our constituents don’t have proximity to the halls of power and won’t get the chance to meet congressional leadership and Cabinet secretaries to voice their concerns. But we are their elected representatives, endowed with the responsibility to be their voice in Washington, D.C., and they expect us to do what we can in these unprecedented times. The Trump administration and DOGE’s actions have pushed our country to the brink of a constitutional crisis. Even though we were denied the chance to meet with the treasury secretary, we did secure a meeting with Johnson. An anonymous witness, who was clearly friendly toward the speaker, told media outlets that we were “incredibly rude, extremely aggressive and frankly unhinged.” This was utterly false: We engaged in a polite, respectful conversation. But alarmingly, Johnson revealed that he didn’t know DOGE’s intentions. He couldn’t answer our questions with any degree of specificity, which speaks to how rogue DOGE’s operation is. And even though he committed to oversight to help answer our constituents’ questions, we’ve not yet received a response from him regarding that commitment. It gives us no comfort that the Trump administration appears to be seeking to mollify the uproar from the American people by claiming to have granted DOGE read-only access to these payment systems. The reality is they were forced to limit access by a federal court, and DOGE officials could already have our sensitive information. The Trump administration and DOGE’s actions — ignoring Congress’ authority over previously approved hundreds of millions of funds and threatening to ignore rulings by the courts — have pushed our country to the brink of a constitutional crisis. As members of the House Ways and Means Committee, which is responsible for oversight of the Treasury Department, we are calling on our Republican colleagues to work with us to investigate. And the Department of Justice must put aside Trump’s political retribution agenda and prosecute any crimes that are found to have taken place. Checks and balances are a constitutional responsibility to restrain an overzealous branch of government. We refuse to stand by while Trump and Musk test the limits of our democracy. While the judicial branch processes lawsuits challenging Musk and DOGE’s actions and access at Treasury, we will fight to keep Americans’ sensitive data private and protect the payment systems that Americans depend on. House Democrats only need three Republican members to join us in supporting our Taxpayer Data Protection Act to force a vote on the House floor. So far, none have. But we will keep fighting to pursue accountability, get answers and aggressively push for transparency. And we may get into some good trouble to win those fights. |
