Dem Lawmaker Demands Transparency From The Trump Admin. And DOGE: They ‘Hide In The Darkness’

3 days ago

During Wednesday’s House Ways and Means Committee, Rep. Richard Neal (D-MA) discussed the level of secrecy in the Trump Administration and DOGE.

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Transcript

00:00statement. Thank you, Chairman. Today's markup of these two resolutions of

00:04inquiry is an important step in ensuring that Congress continues its important

00:07job of oversight over the executive branch. Let's be clear, what we are

00:12seeking today is transparency from the Trump administration and DOJ as to what

00:17they have done behind closed doors at agencies that carry sensitive personal

00:21information of every American taxpayer. We are looking for information. Passing

00:27these resolutions would ensure transparency in our government. Rejecting

00:30them would allow the executive branch to once again hide in the darkness from the

00:33American people this unchecked authority that they allege that they have. Let's

00:39state the obvious. There is nobody 300 years old receiving a Social Security

00:43check. It's important that members of Congress continue using every tool

00:48available to conduct necessary oversight of the Trump administration and for the

00:52good of the American people. It is both unclear and unsettling why DOJ continues

00:58to seek access to private confidential information at agencies across

01:01government behind closed doors while telling the American people something

01:06entirely different. No one should be rummaging through the confidential

01:09information of private citizens at any agency. Incidentally, if there's waste

01:14fraud and abuse, weed it out and get rid of it. Is there anybody on this side of

01:18the aisle that campaigned on the argument we're for more waste fraud and

01:22abuse? No chance. Privacy is next to liberty in our democratic system. Yet the

01:28president and his billionaire cabinet are jeopardizing that standard for their

01:32own power and House Republicans haven't so much as raised an eyebrow about

01:36what's happening. Tens of thousands of people in the Veterans Administration

01:40being laid off? What has happened without any questions being raised by our

01:44colleagues on the other side? Americans should know that every time that their

01:49health is threatened and well-being of the American people is not being taken

01:54up by our Republican colleagues, they refuse to even raise the alarm. Let me

02:01applaud Ranking Member Doggett and Ranking Member Larson for their

02:04steadfast leadership in holding DOJ accountable and protecting the American

02:08people's private data. What we have seen over the last seven weeks is unacceptable,

02:13unaccountable and unelected people with no experience in the systems of

02:17government are rifling through citizens' data. Under the false guise of waste,

02:23fraud and abuse, they are seeking to dismantle institutions. Let me tell you

02:27how this will work. People won't answer the phone because of these layoffs and

02:32the Republicans will say this demonstrates the government doesn't work

02:35after they went along with the layoffs of not allowing people to answer the

02:40phone. President Trump and Elon Musk should be answering the questions that

02:45members of Congress have legitimately solved, which we would have done with any

02:50other executive. This oversight is a fundamental responsibility of Congress

02:54and Democrats are the ones that are going to step up and we should be having

02:58our Republicans assist us. In fact, yesterday our colleagues stripped this

03:04body of one of the most fundamental constitutional responsibilities, oversight

03:08of the executive on trade. The courts have spoken, they want limits on DOJ, they

03:14want to make sure that this information is not tampered with. Yet, as we have seen

03:18recently, DOJ representatives won't take no for an answer. The 24-year-olds are

03:23rummaging through all of your personal information. Now they're attempting to

03:27use a database at HHS as a backdoor entrance. Trump and his allies have made

03:32clear that the Americans' private and sensitive information is theirs to

03:37harvest whenever they want. All of this while our Republican colleagues remain

03:42silent, never asking one question. They're defending its evasive assault on privacy.

03:48For years our colleagues have disliked Social Security. President Bush attempted

03:55to privatize Social Security. Now the argument is if we just lay off those

03:59employees because of inefficiency, so when those calls are not answered they

04:04once again will blame Social Security for being inefficient. How about the idea

04:09that the richest man in the world called Social Security a Ponzi scheme and

04:13nobody on the other side raised a word? When you hear Ponzi scheme it implies an

04:17illicit, illegal activity. Tens of millions of Americans, since Mr. Roosevelt

04:22signed that document, have benefited from an earned benefit. We are fighting to

04:28protect 70 million Social Security beneficiaries from an out-of-control

04:33executive branch and we intend to protect the data of every American. The

04:38American people deserve answers as to what's happening to Social Security.

04:41Treasury and every other government agency has found itself in Doge's

04:45crosshairs. You need to speak up on the other side. Ask some questions about

04:51where this is all headed and with that I yield back the balance of my time.

Dem Lawmaker Demands Transparency From The Trump Admin. And DOGE: They ‘Hide In The Darkness’

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