Murray calls for Budget hearing with Elon Musk
Murray: “Republicans are going down this partisan path because they know Democrats are not going to join them in throwing Medicaid, nutrition assistance, and veterans’ benefits into the wood chipper so they can throw more tax cuts at billionaires.”
Murray: “There is a serious, bipartisan path forward for our country–but it is one where Congress works together to avoid a shutdown, stops the de facto shutdown that is already happening, and reasserts its authority to protect the funding our communities need. Unfortunately, that is a far cry from the path Republicans are setting out on today with this pro-billionaire, anti-middle-class budget resolution.”
Washington DC - Today, at the Senate Budget Committee’s mark up of Senate Republicans’ budget resolution, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee and a senior member and former Chair of the Senate Budget Committee, underscored in opening comments that the resolution Senate Republicans have put forth is a roadmap to devastating cuts to programs families count on every day—from Medicaid to SNAP to veterans benefits—so that Republicans can later pass more tax breaks for the ultra-rich.
Senator Murray underscored that right now Congress’ focus should be on addressing the fast-approaching March 14 funding deadline and addressing President Trump and Elon Musk’s sweeping, illegal funding freeze—not a partisan measure to gut investments in working people. She also called for Elon Musk to come before the Committee to discuss his already in-motion efforts to decimate programs people count on.
Senator Murray’s remarks, as delivered, are below:
“I would like to remind my colleagues that we are just a month away from a deadline to pass bills to fund our government and as we approach that deadline, the entire world is watching as President Trump and Elon Musk effectively shut the government down piece by piece, bit by bit–whatever parts Elon doesn’t like.
“I want to repeat that: we are already in a partial shutdown. Trump and Musk are shuttering entire agencies, locking workers out of their devices and out of their buildings, and demanding the work of the American people come to a screeching halt.
“They are illegally blocking hundreds of billions in funding we all secured for the people we represent back home–putting good-paying jobs on the chopping block, creating incredible uncertainty for businesses, and choking off key funds for infrastructure and energy projects, and a lot more.
“Remember, this is the richest man on earth—with deep ties to China and a direct line to Putin—unilaterally, clandestinely, and illegally deciding if our constituents will see the taxpayer dollars they are owed.
“What they are doing is not just illegal–it is devastating for working people in every single zip code.
“Right now, we need to be speaking out with a unified voice to ensure that when Congress passes a bill, that law is followed. And we need to focus on negotiating serious funding bills on a bipartisan basis ahead of the fast-approaching March 14 deadline. That is what I am trying to do right now.
"But–and this is really critical–we’ve got to know that once those bills become law, Trump will actually follow them.
“We cannot just reach an agreement, pass a bill, and then stand by while President Trump rips our laws in half.
“There is a serious, bipartisan path forward for our country–but it is one where Congress works together to avoid a shutdown, stops the de facto shutdown that is already happening, and reasserts its authority to protect the funding that our communities need.
“Unfortunately, that is a far cry from the path Republicans are setting out on today with this pro-billionaire, anti-middle-class budget resolution.
“Let’s be clear: the Chairman’s mark doesn’t just accept, but doubles down on what Trump and Musk are doing—adding both another distraction from the urgent bipartisan work that needs to happen to fund our government and a roadmap for partisan policies and absolutely painful cuts to programs families count on each and every day.
“Republicans are going down this partisan path because they know Democrats are not going to join them in throwing Medicaid, nutrition assistance, and veterans benefits into the wood chopper so they can throw more tax cuts at billionaires.
“Make no mistake: this budget resolution is the DOGE resolution, as it assumes the staggering amount of $1 trillion in unspecified cuts in 2025 alone and $9 trillion over 10 years.
“Where do we think those sort of dramatic cuts are going to come from? It’s going to come out of SNAP benefits that keep kids from going hungry. It is going to come out of public schools and community health centers. It is going to come out of life-saving medical research.
"Make no mistake: if you are cutting that deeply, that painfully, you are going to start cutting things like veteran’s health care, assistance to our farmers, Medicare, and Medicaid, which, for the information of all Senators, 30 million children rely on.
“There is just no other way to make these numbers work–especially when we know that this is just step one in the plan and step two is more tax breaks for billionaires and massive corporations.
“So, first they are handing Elon Musk a chainsaw to cut programs families rely on with no accountability and then they are rewarding him with enormous tax breaks.
“That is completely unacceptable to me. We should not be cutting health care for working families to deliver massive tax breaks for the wealthiest billionaires.
“So I urge all of my colleagues: hit the breaks, and not just on this devastating, partisan budget resolution. Hit the breaks on what President Trump and Elon Musk are doing right now. Let’s come together, and work on a serious, bipartisan bill to fund the government—and get investments that are sorely needed out to the folks we represent. And let’s come together to demand real accountability for the shutdown they are conducting right now.
“Instead of a markup to hand Elon Musk more power, we need a hearing to hold him accountable. This billionaire is operating completely in the dark, hoping his lies about corruption are loud enough to drown out any calls for truth.
“When he tweeted out the names of government employees months ago, that was ‘accountability’ – but when reporters name people gaining illegal access to Treasury’s payment system, that is a ‘crime?’
“He gets to look at all of our most sensitive data–but no one gets to look at what he is actually doing? That cannot be the standard.
“So when are we going to have a hearing with the people who are illegally firing workers who protect families from scams, illegally cancelling grants to community health centers, illegally freezing funds to rebuild your local highway, illegally shuttering entire agencies that are keeping our country safe, and now this plan is outsourcing $1 trillion in cuts for this year alone?
“That is not rhetorical: I hope the Chair will answer. When will we have a hearing with Elon Musk? He seems to be central to your budget plan–but no one, at least no one on our side of the aisle, has heard from him. No one.
“And he is making big decisions about our country’s spending, and he is not just doing it without Congress–he is doing it in spite of what Congress has decided.
“We should not be giving up our power of the purse. We should be getting answers. If Elon Musk really has nothing to hide, then he should try to leave his safe place on X and Trump rallies and come before this Committee, Mr. Chairman, to be accountable to the public.”
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