He says it’s doing more harm than good.
US Senator Chris Van Hollen (D-Md)
Frederick, Md (KM) The efforts by the Trump Administration and billionaire Elon Musk to reduce the size of government are doing more harm than good, according to Maryland US Senator Chris Van Hollen.. “What they’re doing is taking a wrecking ball to many services that are very important to the American people, and they’re laying the groundwork to pass a tax cut that will disproportionally benefit the very wealthy at the expense of everyone else,” he says.
The Department of Government Efficiency was established by the Trump Administration. Its personnel are tasked with visiting various government agencies and looking at ways to cut waste and fraud. Van Hollen takes issue with that. “They put this list of things that they claimed that they cut, only to have to admit later that they lied about it, or distorted them,” he said. “They claim that they saved $50 million for condoms in Gaza. Not an iota of factual basis for that, not one.”
A number of federal employees were let go who have done an excellent job, according to Van Hollen. “Firing merit-based civil service servants, claiming that they weren’t performing well enough because that’s the standard you have to meet. only to find out that these people, many just got these glowing performance reviews,”: he says.
Van Hollen was a guest recently on WFMD’s “Morning News Express.” He was asked if he believes Musk and “:the DOGE boys” have the authority to enter these government agencies, and demand to see sensitive materials. “Even the Trump Administration was unable to point to the legal authority that Musk has to do to perform these acts that essentially that allow him to have the keys to the federal government,” says Van Hollen. “Short answer to your question is ‘I don’t think he has the authority to do it.'”
He said Trump and Musk are “violating the law left and right.”
By Kevin McManus