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PBS News Hour - Segments

Protests erupt as Elon Musk moves to gut government agencies

PBS News Hour - Segments

PBS NewsHour

News, Daily News

4.11K Ratings

🗓️ 5 February 2025

⏱️ 7 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

The Trump administration is targeting agencies and slashing the federal workforce and one man is orchestrating it all, Elon Musk. The richest man in the world has been given access to critical systems across the federal government. Democrats on the House Oversight Committee attempted to subpoena Musk but were blocked by Republicans. Laura Barrón-López reports. PBS News is supported by - https://www.pbs.org/newshour/about/funders

Transcript

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0:00.0

Here in the U.S., the Trump administration is moving at a breakneck pace, targeting agencies and slashing the federal workforce.

0:08.2

And one man is orchestrating it all, Elon Musk.

0:11.9

Currently, the richest man in the world.

0:13.8

Musk has been given access to critical systems across the federal government.

0:18.1

Today, White House Press Secretary Caroline Levitt said Musk could decide for himself if any government funds that his team has access to are in conflict with his business interests.

0:28.6

If Elon Musk comes across a conflict of interest with the contracts and the funding that Doge is overseeing, then Elon will excuse himself from those contracts.

0:37.8

And he has, again, abided by all applicable laws.

0:42.2

Alarmed by Musk's influence and growing control, House Democrats on the Oversight Committee

0:47.2

attempted to subpoena Musk, but were blocked today by House Republicans.

0:51.6

Our Laura Barone Lopez has been covering the latest and she joins us now.

0:55.2

Laura Musk and his team, the so-called Department of Government Deficiency, are moving very fast.

1:00.0

Bring us up to date. Since Monday, how many more agencies and government systems has he gained access to?

1:06.3

So to date, Musk and his team have accessed at least 11 agencies. And the count is growing every day.

1:13.5

So that includes USAID, Treasury, Education Department, FAA, FBI. And what does that mean?

1:21.6

That means that with access to these agencies, he has access to the government's biggest payment systems,

1:26.6

to personnel information,

1:29.5

to the personal information of many Americans, HR systems, and much more.

1:35.5

The New York Times also recently reported that Doge has access to the Centers for Medicare

1:40.1

and Medicaid Services, which has contracts totaling in $1 trillion.

1:47.8

And now, we ask the White House about all this access.

1:52.6

And the White House claims that Musk and Doge have, quote, the appropriate security clearances and that Doge employees are employees of relevant agencies.

1:58.3

But it's not just about gaining access omna.

...

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