Made calls to my congressional reps today (Feb 3, 2025) instead of sending emails. Expressed my concern of Elon Musk’s illegal and unconstitutional take over of government computer systems, which amounts to a coup. Asked what Congress plans to do about it.
Here is my House Rep’s (Bill Huizenga) response, received Feb 7, 2025 via email. Clearly, he doesn’t care about the illegalities of what Trump and Musk are doing and is choosing to rationalize his complicity.
Thank you for contacting me regarding the Department of Government Efficiency and Elon Musk. I always appreciate hearing from constituents and welcome this opportunity to respond.
President Trump used his authority to rename and reorganize the United States Digital Service to the United States Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) Service on January 20, 2025. DOGE is tasked with modernizing Federal technology and software to maximize governmental efficiency and productivity. This executive order also directed federal agencies to establish their own DOGE teams, which may be comprised of Special Government Employees, to coordinate their work with DOGE. Special Government Employees are temporary government officials expected to work less than 130 days in a calendar year.
At the direction of the President, entrepreneur and tech business owner, Elon Musk, has been closely engaged with DOGE in his capacity as a Special Government Employee.
As you may know, it has been reported that U.S. Department of Treasury’s DOGE team has expanded on the Biden Administration’s review of the Bureau of the Fiscal Service’s payment systems in order to improve payment integrity. In response to congressional concerns, the Treasury has made it clear that the ongoing operational review is not resulting in the suspension, delay, rerouting, or rejection of any payments, including those related to Social Security and Medicare payments. Furthermore, this review and the DOGE and veteran career Treasury officials involved are subject to all standard security, safety, and privacy standards. The Treasury has also highlighted the payment systems’ already robust and effective protections.
As this administration continues its important work to make our government’s digital systems more efficient, I want to let you know that I agree that DOGE must abide by President Trump’s executive order to work within the law and adhere to rigorous data protection standards.
Again, I appreciate you contacting me, and please do not hesitate to do so in the future.
Sincerely,
Bill Huizenga
Member of Congress