“Musk Is Very Wealthy, and I Don’t Think He’s Going to Lose Much Sleep,” James Comer Defends Musk’s Influence in Government Efficiency Plans

CNN’s Pamela Brown confronted House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R-KY) over Elon Musk’s political influence in a plan to use federal spending cuts to potentially harm business rivals. Musk, alongside entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, has committed to cutting $2 trillion in federal spending, and Comer provided insight into the cuts they recommend from their positions within the Donald Trump-backed advisory group, the “Department of Government Efficiency.”

Comer outlined the group’s focus on federal waste, including the skyrocketing number of federal employees, particularly those working remotely. “The number of federal employees has skyrocketed over the past four years, especially the number that are working from home and not even coming to work,” Comer said. “Government efficiency is gone, has gone down.

There’s a correlation between working from home and being efficient with the government. It may be different in the private sector, but in the government, it’s not working out, so everything is on the table.” He also highlighted areas of government spending that would be scrutinized, such as unused funds in the infrastructure and COVID relief bills, and improper payments in programs like Medicare, Medicaid, and unemployment insurance.

Brown pointed out that Musk, who has billions of dollars in federal contracts, might have a conflict of interest in these proposals. She asked Comer whether he was concerned about potential issues of influence. Comer responded, “Well, I think he’s well aware of the fact that he has some contracts with the government… I don’t think I’ve ever heard anyone say that any grant work, that any of Musk’s major companies have done with the government has been a bad deal.”

The conversation then turned to a specific proposal from Ramaswamy, who suggested clawing back a $6.6 billion conditional loan from the Department of Energy to Rivian, an electric vehicle startup that competes with Musk’s Tesla. Comer defended Musk, saying, “Musk is, you know, he’s a very wealthy individual, and I don’t think he’s going to lose much sleep if members of Congress or people in DOGE think that, you know, something isn’t right.”

Comer expressed optimism about the efforts of the Department of Government Efficiency, despite potential opposition in Congress. “There are members of Congress, there are a few in my own party that are going to be obstructionists,” Comer acknowledged, but he emphasized that the American public is dissatisfied with the current direction of Congress and its handling of taxpayer dollars.