In a press call with media on Friday, U.S. Rep. Melanie Stansbury (D-N.M.) said she and Congressman Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) are introducing a bill to shield taxpayers from the financial repercussions of Elon Musk’s intrusion into the federal government: the Nobody Elected Elon Musk Act.
Stansbury, recently described by Politico as the “top DOGE Democrat,” is the ranking member of the House Subcommittee on Delivering on Government Efficiency, aka DOGE, which is also how Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency is known. Musk’s DOGE has prompted protests across the country, for its dismantling of government agencies.
In a discussion with New Mexico press on Thursday, U.S. Sen. Ben Ray Luján noted that Musk is “creating chaos” and prompting concerns about preservation of documents, as well as the privacy of U.S. citizens. U.S. Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), who is a member of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, on Wednesday co-authored a letter to White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles that said DOGE’s actions “risk exposure of classified and other sensitive information that jeopardizes national security and violates Americans’ privacy.”
Meanwhile, lawsuits are mounting against the administration, and Stansbury said she anticipates “there will be likely millions of dollars in damages.” Her bill seeks to ensure “the American taxpayers are not left on the hook for that liability,” she said, and instead “that the liability squarely falls on Elon Musk and those responsible for it.”
Stansbury also noted that she and other members of Congress had gone to the Environmental Protection Agency on Thursday, following reports that many of its staff had been placed on administrative leave, and were blocked from entry by Homeland Security. She said she also had reports that the Departments of Labor and Education were in line to be dismantled.
“Now I know the question on everyone’s mind is, ‘how can they do this? How is this legal?’ And the answer is, ‘it’s not. It’s not legal,'” Stansbury said.
The congresswoman said her office is receiving “hundreds and hundreds” of calls from New Mexicans with concerns about how a potential freezing of federal funds could impact the state. “We are looking at huge potential and catastrophic impacts,” she said. “Not just the public sector, but also the private sector.”
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