House Democrats on June 5 couldn’t get enough votes to issue a subpoena to tech entrepreneur Elon Musk to testify before Congress.
The House Oversight Committee rejected the Democrats’ request for Musk, a Trump adviser and former head of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), to appear before lawmakers in a 20–21 vote.
It was brought forward by Rep. Stephen Lynch (D-Mass.), ranking member on the House Oversight Committee, who had argued that Musk needs to testify in front of the House because he was “operating without any oversight whatsoever, while posing a very real risk of violating security and privacy laws.”
“We cannot sit here, however, and have the traditional bipartisan conversation about federal IT modernization without acknowledging the fact that the Trump administration, Elon Musk, and DOGE are leading technology initiatives that threaten the privacy and security of all Americans and undermine our government and the vital services it provides to red states and blue states,” he said during the hearing.
Lynch made the comment as Democrats held anti-Musk signs behind him during the hearing. Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.), who was presiding over the committee in the absence of Chair James Comer (R-Ky.), suggested that the Democratic lawmakers were creating a spectacle for social media by holding up the signs.
Musk left the White House last week after his 130-day period as a special government employee expired. Although Trump praised the Tesla CEO during an Oval Office meeting on May 30, the president and Musk have been increasingly critical of one another in public over the White House-backed One Big Beautiful Bill Act.
The subpoena request could be a preview of things to come if Democrats regain control of the House during the 2026 midterm elections. Over the weekend, one Democrat on the Oversight Committee, Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-Texas), said that the Democrats would use their power to subpoena Musk if they take over.
“I think that unfortunately, we’re going to have to wait until the Democrats are in the majority—which will hopefully be in the midterms—and then we can absolutely bring Elon Musk in,”
Should Democrats win the House next year, they can have him under oath and have him talk “about everything that he did,” she added.
Since DOGE was established via an executive order in January, its website has reported that more than $175 billion in contracts, grants, and leases have been cut so far. That amounts to more than $1,080 per taxpayer.
When he was working in the government, Musk framed his work overhauling the federal government in existential terms.
“If it’s not possible now, it will never be possible. This is our shot,” he told reporters in the Oval Office in February. “This is the best hand of cards we’re ever going to have. If we don’t take advantage of this best hand of cards, it’s never going to happen.”
In a CBS News interview published late last month, Musk suggested that he wanted to cut funding to federal agencies because he views them as inefficient and wasteful.
“But my frank opinion of the government is that, like, the government is just, like, the DMV that got big, okay?“ he said. ”So, when you say it like, ‘Let’s have the government do something,’ you should think, ‘Do you want the DMV to do it?’”