Dozens of Democrats urge Trump to fire Musk on eve of president's big speech
WASHINGTON — More than three dozen Democratic lawmakers called on President Donald Trump on Monday to fire DOGE leader Elon Musk, arguing the new Republican administration has illegally fired dozens of government officials whose agencies were investigating or prosecuting Musk’s companies.
The lawmakers — led by Sens. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass. and Cory Booker, D-N.J., and the top Democrats on the House Oversight and Judiciary committees, Reps. Gerry Connolly, D-Va., Jamie Raskin, D-Md. — made their ask in a letter sent hours before the president’s first joint address to Congress of his second term Tuesday evening.
The administration’s removals of agency heads and workers have affected 11 federal agencies conducting 32 ongoing investigations, complaints or enforcement actions against Musk’s companies, including Tesla, SpaceX and Neuralink, the lawmakers noted.
“These firings have removed the exact individuals in our government who would hold Mr. Musk and his companies accountable for following the law and protect everyday Americans from threats to their health, welfare, safety and economic well-being,” they wrote in the letter shared exclusively with Paste BN.
For example, the National Labor Relations Board has at least a dozen unfair labor practice cases open against Tesla and charged SpaceX with unfair labor practices last year, and the Federal Election Commission oversaw complaints last year that Musk broke campaign finance law. Trump has sought to remove the leaders of both panels.
Many of those officials were confirmed by the U.S. Senate and have legal requirements that must be met before they can be removed from office, they wrote, such as notifying Congress before firing inspectors general or providing just cause before firing members of the NLRB.
The Democrats' request isn't likely to make inroads with the administration and the Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency, which has fired tens of thousands of federal workers since Trump was sworn in earlier this year.
Trump has defended Musk's efforts, arguing it is seeking to downsize government by eliminating waste, fraud and abuse. At his first Cabinet meeting last week, Trump joked that aides should "throw out" any agency head dissatisfied with Musk's work.
"Some disagree a little bit, but I will tell you, for the most part, I think everyone's not only happy, they're thrilled," Trump said.
Many of Musk's firings have been met with lawsuits, as have other DOGE efforts to access sensitive personal information from agencies like the Department of Education and the Internal Revenue Service.
The public is divided on the cuts, according to recent polling. A CBS News/YouGov poll conducted Feb. 26-28 found 51% approved of Trump's efforts to cut staff at government agencies and 49% disapproved. An NPR/PBS News/Marist poll from Feb. 24-26 found 55% of respondents said the cuts were doing more harm than good, and 39% of respondents had a favorable opinion of Musk.
Musk will attend Trump's address to Congress Tuesday night where the president is expected to use part of his remarks to tout the federal government cuts Musk has spearheaded.