The White House pushed back on a claim from Democrat Rep. Gerry Connolly that Americans have had enough of the Department of Government Efficiency’s efforts to reduce the size of the federal government and address waste, fraud, and abuse.
“This country is fed up with the wrecking ball Elon Musk and Donald Trump are taking to essential government services,” the Virginia Democrat said on X. “Federal agencies need to regain order right now by telling employees they do NOT have to respond to Elon Musk's absurd email.”
Connolly was referring to an email federal workers received on Saturday asking them to send a handful of work accomplishments from the past week. Musk described the email as a basic pulse check.
“The reason this matters is that a significant number of people who are supposed to be working for the government are doing so little work that they are not checking their email at all!” he said. “In some cases, we believe non-existent people or the identities of dead people are being used to collect paychecks. In other words, there is outright fraud.”
Pointing to findings from a recent Harvard CAPS-Harris Poll, the White House asked Connolly to “stop lying.”
Stop lying, Gerry.
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) February 24, 2025
— 77% of Americans support a “full examination of all government expenditures.”
— 72% agree there should be a government agency “focused on efficiency.”
— 70% say government is “filled with waste, fraud, and inefficiency.”
— Two-thirds say Congress should join… https://t.co/B7iHDfixPc
Musk also touted DOGE's popularity.
Polls show that @DOGE is overwhelmingly POPULAR and that government spending should be reduced by at least $1 trillion!! https://t.co/6yvY0gDOUE
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 24, 2025