Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (N.Y.) says Democrats will push for language in the spending bills that need to pass by March 14 that would unwind Elon Musk’s efforts to dismantle government agencies such as the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB).
Schumer emphasized that Democrats don’t want to see the government shut down, but he vowed that Democrats would seek to halt Musk’s aggressive moves to freeze government funding, push federal workers to resign and to shutter agencies such as USAID and the CFPB.
“The bottom line on this is that the Republicans are in charge and we don’t want a shutdown. It’s up to them. But in terms of trying to get in the appropriations bills [language] undoing lots of the many things that they’ve done that are wrong. Yes, we’re certainly going to make an effort to do that,” Schumer told reporters Tuesday.
Schumer said it’s fair to trim government programs that might not be using taxpayer money most efficiently, but he said Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency have gone too far, by locking out workers at USAID and shutting down all operations at the CFPB.
“Everyone knows there’s waste in government that should be cut but DOGE is using a meat axe. And they’re cutting things that are efficient and effective,” he said.
The veteran New York lawmaker said he was in Albany and Syracuse visiting community health centers.
“Many of them have had their funds cut temporarily — some even haven’t been restored yet. They’re the most efficient healthcare providers around,” he said.
“Take [US]AID, maybe there are some programs they don’t like. But most people agree that PEPFAR was extremely effective and cost-effective,” he said, referring to the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief. “Most people would want to see us continue our fight in Central Africa against Ebola so it doesn’t come here.”
“If you want to make cuts, then you do it through a debate in Congress, not lawlessly by just implementing it,” he said.
Some Democrats have said they’re willing to shut down the government if Republicans won’t agree to put the brakes on Musk’s aggressive bid to overhaul federal agencies without congressional approval.
Sen. Andy Kim (D-N.J.) declared over the weekend that he’s not interested in supporting a government funding bill that would let Trump and Musk continue to “dismantle” federal programs.
“I cannot support efforts that will continue this lawlessness that we’re seeing when it comes to this administration’s actions,” he said Sunday on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” “And for us to be able to support government funding in that way only for them to turn it around, to dismantle the government. That is not something that should be allowed.”
