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The federal government touches the life of every person in our country — from the roads you drive on, to programs for retired citizens and children with disabilities, to the defense of our nation, programs for veterans and so much more.

The Constitution gives Congress the power to approve or cut funding and pass laws, and the president is required to implement and administer those laws and funding. But the Trump administration, in violation of the law and the Constitution, has given Elon Musk the power to ignore Congress. And while Musk and Trump claim they are eliminating jobs, programs and agencies to “cut waste,” the truth is that this effort is about shifting federal funding from programs and agencies that help Americans to funding nearly $5 trillion in tax cuts that benefit Musk and other billionaires.

I want to be clear: I’m all for making our government as efficient as possible. As a newly appointed member of the powerful House Appropriations and Budget committees, I’m keenly aware of the federal government’s obligations, challenges, and opportunities that come with our work, especially to ensure your tax dollars are responsibly spent and invested.

But that’s not what Musk is doing. He isn’t just a random billionaire generously volunteering to help the new president — he’s Trump’s highest campaign donor as well as a federal contractor. From loans to tax incentives and contracts, his businesses have been dependent on your money. His current federal contracts total $19 billion, his wealth doubled overnight once Trump was elected, and his companies have avoided paying taxes on nearly $11 billion of income.

Apparently, that’s not enough for him. The unprecedented access to federal agencies Musk has been given by Trump and congressional Republicans allows him to dismantle agencies that held him accountable as a federal contractor and gives him insight into the contracts his competitors have within the federal government. He and the 19- and 20-year-olds he’s brought in also have access to your Social Security number and private information.

Millions of Americans are being fooled into thinking he and his made-up agency “DOGE” (“Department of Government Efficiency”) have already found massive fraud and waste. That’s not true.

In fact, during her first briefing as White House Press Secretary, Karoline Leavitt made an outrageous claim that DOGE had found “50 million taxpayer dollars that went out the door to fund condoms in Gaza” as a means to justify a White House memo that would have frozen trillions in federal funding and had incredibly negative consequences on communities across the country like El Paso. Despite the claim about condoms for Gaza being quickly debunked by a Washington Post analysis, this lie spread like wildfire across social media. And predictably, Musk and the White House aren’t bothering to correct the record every time they are proven wrong.

My Republican colleagues seem supportive of this dismantling of the federal government. They may be afraid to challenge Musk because of the power of his money — he invested almost $300 million in Trump’s campaign and has promised to fund primary challenges to those who disagree with their agenda publicly. Coupled with a relentless media barrage from Musk himself, Republicans don’t dare get in his crosshairs and are more than willing to sacrifice our federal workforce and institutions like the Department of Education. They are allowing Musk to skirt transparency laws, aren’t pushing for his financial disclosures or adherence to conflict-of-interest laws.

Not once since the president’s inauguration or the beginning of this new congress have there been serious talks by Musk, “DOGE,” Trump or my Republican colleagues in control of the government about how to lower costs for the American people. There is probably little time for those conversations given that their singular focus has been about how to extend the expensive Trump tax cuts that overwhelmingly benefited the rich and caused our national debt to explode by trillions of dollars.

The budget plan Republicans have put forth to pay for billionaire tax cuts already spell out devastating consequences for El Pasoans:

• 95,000 people who receive coverage under the Affordable Care Act in El Paso would see their average premium go up by $440 per year — a 100% increase;
• 130,156 people on Medicaid in our community are at risk of losing their health care under Republican budget plans, including over 82,000 children under 19 and over 17,000 seniors;
• It also threatens 51,200 people in our community who rely on SNAP to put food on the table.

As a member of the minority party in Washington, there are limits to what I can do to prevent this raiding of the federal government for the benefit of the wealthiest Americans. And while I will continue to work with anyone who wants to make your life better, that’s not the priority for the Trump administration. Please know you have a role to play as well. Stay engaged, informed, and make your voices heard. As your representative in Congress, I will continue sounding the alarm so El Pasoans can understand the consequences we are facing, and I will do everything possible to stop the damage they are doing.