Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) expressed her concerns about the influence of Elon Musk and President Donald Trump during a House Financial Services Committee hearing, pressing Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell on whether Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) would be granted access to the Fed’s systems.
At Tuesday’s hearing, Waters sharply questioned Powell about the potential for Musk to gain access to the Federal Reserve, highlighting the growing fear among Democrats that Musk and Trump could exert excessive influence over the nation’s financial infrastructure. “When Musk comes knocking at the Fed’s door, are you going to let him in?” Waters asked.
But Powell was cagey in response, saying, “I don’t have anything for you on that.” Waters then pressed further: “Would you like to tell us today that you won’t let DOGE into the Federal Reserve or have access to the systems and the data?” But the Fed chairman remained undaunted, responding, “So we don’t, I don’t have any, we’ve had no contact and I don’t really have, I have nothing for you to report today on that.”
“Well, you know what happened at Treasury and you know what happened over at the CFPB and the people of this country are being violated because all of our privacy is being taken up by Elon Musk and Trump and we don’t know what all they have on us, our bank accounts, everything in our lives,” Waters said in what appeared to be a stunning admission.
In response to concerns about DOGE’s influence, Powell clarified that neither Musk nor any DOGE personnel have sought access to the Federal Reserve’s secure payment systems. He assured Congress that he would promptly notify them if such attempts were made.
As Democratic lawmakers protested President Trump’s cuts to the federal workforce outside the Treasury Building last week, Rep. Ayanna Presley (D-MA) urged her supporters to “agitate” in the streets, comments which have been interpreted by some as a call for violence.
The protests continued in Washington, D.C., the nation’s most liberal city, which overwhelmingly supported Kamala Harris by a nine-to-one margin. Following a similar rally outside the USAID headquarters, Democrats gathered outside the Treasury Building to protest Musk’s DOGE initiative after staffers reportedly gained access to information regarding trillions in payments made by Treasury.
Before delivering her speech, Pressley led protestors in a “hey hey, ho ho, Elon Musk has got to go,” chant before making her way to the podium. “Agitating. We will see you in the courts, in Congress, in the streets,” the far-left congresswoman shouted before referring to Musk as a “Nazi nepo-baby.” She added: “A godless, lawless billionaire who no one elected. Elon, this is the American people. This is not your trashy cyber truck that you can just dismantle, rip apart, and sell the pieces off. All right.”
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