Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT) supports cutting government spending, but he does not believe someone receiving government money should decide what gets cut.
Speaking to MSNBC on Thursday, Murphy addressed Capitol Hill meetings with Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy about their new entity, the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE.
The department hasn't been created yet, and if it intends to be an actual department, it will need congressional approval. However, the president can appoint toothless blue-ribbon panels or round-table advisories without Congress's approval.
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"I'm not sure this has anything to do with breaking up the status quo," said Murphy about DOGE.
Musk and Ramaswamy have said they plan to cut at least a third of the federal budget, of which the biggest ticket items are Medicare, Social Security and the interest on the national debt. Trump told MAGA supporters he would avoid cutting Social Security and Medicare.
"You put a billionaire who basically has made his fortune off government subsidies in charge of deciding how the government should spend its money," Murphy continues. This sounds like either a con job in which Elon Musk comes out of this with his programs protected and perhaps his competitors's programs targeted — or just a TV show."
He accused Trump of pretending to care about guns following the Parkland massacre.
"Donald Trump pretended he cared about guns. He didn't do anything," said Murphy.
The senator even questioned whether this is part of Trump's "show" that he cares about cutting government spending when he doesn't, and the first Trump term proved as much.
"Deficits exploding, and more and more debt is saddled upon the American public," said Murphy.
He went on to say that Democrats should make their own proposals about where to cut, such as subsidies to insurance companies and drug companies.
"Let's come after Elon Musk who made his fortune off taxpayers," Murphy also said.
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