DEPARTMENT OF GOVERNMENT INEFFICIENCY

DEPARTMENT OF GOVERNMENT INEFFICIENCY

Congressional Record, Volume 171 Issue 37 (Tuesday, February 25, 2025) [Congressional Record Volume 171, Number 37 (Tuesday, February 25, 2025)] [House] [Pages H773-H774] From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [ www.gpo.gov ] DEPARTMENT OF GOVERNMENT INEFFICIENCY The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from Pennsylvania (Ms. Scanlon) for 5 minutes. Ms. SCANLON. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to speak about the White House's pet project, the department of government inefficiency, otherwise known as DOGI. For the past month, our Federal workers and agencies have been assaulted by a dilettante billionaire empowered by President Trump to muck about in Americans' lives and Federal agencies. Americans are justifiably concerned that these unelected intruders are acting as judge and jury on people's lives and livelihoods as they gleefully and illegally feed tens of thousands of jobs and vital programs into a woodchipper. This billionaire and his tech bros claim to have found billions in fraud, waste, and inefficiency, but their methods and results are shrouded in secrecy. When they hype their claim on Twitter or the White House press room, independent review has shown that their claims are false or riddled with errors. Buying condoms for Gaza? It didn't happen. Social Security payments to people who are 150 years old? Nope. Mr. Speaker, $800 billion in savings on one contract? Oops. Maybe $800 million, they are not really sure. Absolutely nothing adds up. These DOGI efforts have introduced fraud, waste, and inefficiency into every agency they have touched with their invasions, freezes, and suspensions. Federal workers have been fired then rehired as their functions were quickly proven to be indispensable rather than nonessential. Employees have been bombarded with weird emails that threaten them with termination if they don't accept a sketchy buyout or snitch on their colleagues and with demands that they interrupt their real work to do make-work for review by people who have no understanding or interest in public service or government functions. Elon Musk's DOGI efforts are disrupting critical medical research and treatments, foreign aid, veterans' care, criminal investigations, and health, housing and human services across the Nation and beyond. It takes a remarkable combination of arrogance and stupidity to think that this is the best use of time for our intelligence officers, VA workers, air [[Page H774]] traffic controllers, FBI agents, and everyone else upon whom our Nation depends to do their jobs well. If this is what bringing business acumen to government function looks like, then it is pretty clear we need to prevent our government from becoming a dumpster fire like X or one of Trump's corrupt corporations. We can't afford it, and the American people can't afford it. Mr. Speaker, it is well past time that Congress removed Mr. Musk and his DOGI minions from our government and get down to doing the peoples' business. The SPEAKER pro tempore. Members are reminded to refrain from engaging in personalities toward the President. ____________________