Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), a close ally of President Trump’s, defended tech billionaire Elon Musk’s efforts to reshape the government through the inaugural Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
In an interview with CNN’s Manu Raju, Jordan said he’s comfortable with the bold steps Musk has taken but thinks Congress will ultimately get involved “at some point.”
Asked whether Jordan is comfortable with Trump’s team “trying to essentially shutter these agencies without congressional consent,” Jordan noted that conservatives have “long said” they wanted to shutter the Department of Education.
“We have real concerns with all the waste, fraud and abuse that Elon Musk and his team are identifying,” he added. “It’s interesting. You know, no one wants to defend the waste fraud and abuse, so they attack the guy who’s exposing all the waste fraud and ridiculous things we’re spending money on.”
When Jordan said the Constitution vests executive power in the president, Raju noted that Congress has the “power of the purse” constitutionally.
“We do, but it’s the president, not a bureaucrat at USAID. It’s not some staff person or some employee at the Department of Education. It’s the President of the United States and the folks who work for DOGE are federal employees carrying out the will of the executive branch leader,” Jordan replied.
On whether Jordan is comfortable with Musk shutting down agencies including the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), Jordan noted that the country knew what they were voting for when they elected Trump in November.
“Congress will be involved at some point,” Jordan said, later adding, “I think in the end, that’ll be the case. But I do think what Elon and his team are doing, at the request, at the urging of the President, and it’s something that he campaigned on, and it’s something that people evaluated and voted for on November 5, and he won in an overwhelming way. I think that’s entirely okay.”
On whether he should be taking more steps to ensure there are guardrails in place for Musk, Jordan said, “I think the guardrails are you all in the press who are talking about it every day.”
