House Dem expects first DOGE subcommittee meeting to be ‘full-on combat’

Sparks are expected to fly at Congress’ first Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) subcommittee meeting Wednesday, according to one Democratic lawmaker in the House of Representatives.

Democrats have blasted billionaire Elon Musk, who President Donald Trump tapped to lead DOGE, over the past week for trying to eliminate waste, fraud and abuse in federal spending and trim the more than 2-million-person federal workforce.

Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Texas, told Axios that she plans to use the hearing to “clarify for the American people” why DOGE’s actions are “illegal” and why “Elon Musk has no official role to do this.” 

“I think it’s going to be a sh–show. I don’t really anticipate anything productive coming out of this,” Crockett said. “I don’t anticipate that it’s going to be nice. I anticipate full-on combat, because DOGE is clearly the devil right now.”

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Rep. Jasmine Crockett speaks during the We Choose To Fight: Nobody Elected Elon rally at the U.S. Department of the Treasury on Feb. 4, 2025, in Washington, D.C. (Jemal Countess/Getty Images for MoveOn)

DOGE subcommittee chair Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., told the outlet she has “high hopes” that Republicans and Democrats will engage productively during the hearing, which she said will focus on “Medicaid improper payments.”

“We’re going to be talking about solutions, there are going to be big savings,” she said, adding that she feels the issue is bipartisan.

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On Tuesday, Musk appeared with Trump in the Oval Office as the president prepared to sign an executive order concerning the billionaire’s work leading DOGE.

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Musk, in some of his first public comments on leading DOGE, told reporters that there are some good people in the federal bureaucracy, but that they need to be accountable, and the budget deficit needs to be addressed.

President Donald Trump speaks with reporters as Elon Musk listens in the Oval Office at the White House on Tuesday, Feb. 11, 2025, in Washington. (Photo/Alex Brandon)

He also pushed back against critics who have accused him of mounting a hostile takeover of the government, saying he wants to add “common-sense controls” to federal spending and that cutting government waste is not “draconian.”

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“The people voted for major government reform, and that’s what the people are going to get,” Musk said. “That’s what democracy is all about.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.