Democratic lawmakers on Tuesday booed Elon Musk as President Donald Trump praised his billionaire ally during his speech to a joint session of Congress.
Trump made a special mention of the work of the so-called Department of Government Efficiency, which has created chaos and confusion in its purported effort to cut fraud and waste from federal spending.
“Thank you, Elon,” Trump said. “He’s working very hard. He didn’t need this.”
Trump claimed Musk is heading DOGE — a comment that is bound to raise more questions about Musk’s precise role there since the White House has previously said he is not the DOGE administrator.
The mention of Musk’s name was welcomed by Republicans, who applauded him, while Democrats in the audience booed the tech executive.
“Thank you very much. We appreciate it, everybody here. Even this side appreciates it, I believe. They just don’t want to admit that,” Trump said, pointing to the Democrats in the chamber, despite the Democratic Party’s repeated criticism of Musk.
Trump went on to list dubious examples of what he described as the “appalling waste” his administration has identified, including the false claim that the government spent $8 million “for making mice transgender.”
“We found hundreds of billions of dollars of fraud,” Trump added as some Democrats held up signs stating: “False.”
Trump also took aim at the Social Security Administration during his remarks, sharing widely discredited claims that the agency has been wrongly paying retirement benefits to people way over 100 years old, raising questions about his commitment to protecting the popular retirement program.
“That’s not true,” former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) mouthed in response as she shook her head listening to the president, according to The New York Times.
Democrats have long called out Trump for giving Musk free rein.
Sen. Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.), who delivered the official rebuttal to Trump’s speech, criticized Musk and and “his gang of 20-year-olds,” slamming the billionaire for wreaking havoc across the federal government.
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“The mindless firing of people who work to protect our nuclear weapons, keep our planes from crashing, and conduct the research that finds the cure for cancer — only to rehire them two days later? No CEO in America could do that without being summarily fired,” Slotkin said.
Meanwhile, House leadership has told GOP members to not hold town hall meetings, as some Republican lawmakers were recently confronted by angry constituents protesting Musk’s actions.