'You don’t see any problem with that?' CNN host confronts GOP rep over ceding power to Musk

14 February

A Friday interview between CNN host Boris Sanchez and Rep. Nick LaLota (R-N.Y.) grew somewhat combative when the journalist repeatedly pressed his guest on his support for centabillionaire Elon Musk's actions.

With the backing of President Donald Trump, Musk's "Department of Government Efficiency," or "DOGE" (which is not a Congressionally authorized federal agency) has been terminating billions of dollars in government contracts and programs over the past month. Musk said earlier this week he intends for DOGE to "delete entire agencies."

Sanchez asked LaLota — who is a member of the House Appropriations Committee — how he feels about "the richest man on earth" having the "power to overrule spending that Congress has already appropriated." He also asked if he feels that DOGE is "superseding the authority of Congress," given that Article I, Section 8 of the U.S. Constitution explicitly gives Congress the power of the purse.

I don't use rich as a negative. The gentleman has earned a lot of success in our great capitalistic economy," LaLota said, adding that there were "plenty of elected officials" and "plenty of Senate-confirmed individuals" working in conjunction with Musk.

"By having an advisor who is so savvy at business and has created so much business success, we as a nation should want to welcome that," the New York Republican said.

"I am curious about you describing him as an advisor ... he's not just advising," Sanchez countered. "It's more a conversation about the business that he does with foreign governments like China [and] U.S. adversaries, and whether there's any conflict of interest in him having handle over what these government agencies do, given that some of them are tied to what he's doing with his business. You don't see any concern, you don't see any problem with that?"

LaLota argued that Musk's actions "should be no surprise to anybody," since Trump campaigned on "reducing the size and scope of government." He also insisted that the Tesla and SpaceX CEO was an "ally."

However, Sanchez pushed back, saying there was a difference between "electing President Trump to carry out this mission of reducing government waste" and "having someone who is unelected ... guiding what these agencies do" and "how they spend their money" in particular. He again pressed LaLota about whether he was concerned with "having someone at the controls that may have a conflict of interest with how they guide those agencies, and where that money goes."

"I think that the demonization of this one personality is a distraction from the core issue, that we must reduce the size and scope of government," LaLota said.

"I'm not questioning his personality," Sanchez replied. "It doesn't even have to be Elon Musk himself. It could be just another individual that has the ability to simultaneously conduct business with the Pentagon and with American adversaries, and then guide where spending is going in the U.S. government without seeming to have actual oversight over what he's doing without testifying before congress. He was not elected!"

Watch the full segment below, or by clicking this link.

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