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Top Democrat calls for compliance with Elon Musk’s ridiculous demands [1]
['Daily Kos Staff']
Date: 2025-02-24
Democratic Rep. Gerry Connolly, the highest-ranking Democrat on the House Oversight Committee, said government workers should comply with an Elon Musk order that is being disputed by others.
Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency sent out an email to federal workers on Saturday demanding that they send him a summary of five things they’ve accomplished over the previous week of work or risk being fired.
The American Federation of Government Employees, the largest union of federal employees, slammed the directive. Union President Everett Kelley sent a letter to the Office of Personnel Management, which oversees government workers, and asked for Musk’s letter to be rescinded.
“Since last night, it has become even more clear that the thoughtless and bullying email was meant to intimidate federal employees and cause mass confusion,” Kelley wrote in a statement released today.
Multiple agency heads—led by Trump appointees—told their staff not to respond to Musk’s demand, citing possible security violations. Even some congressional Republicans, including Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, and Rep. Mike Lawler of New York, have spoken out against the Musk directive.
But in a CNN appearance on Sunday, Connolly said workers should comply for now.
“I guess if you can, cover yourself and do the five things you did last week just to be able to say, ‘well I did it,’” he advised.
The pro-compliance message echoed continuing weakness from Democratic leaders in response to Trump and Musk’s disruptive and bigoted actions in the executive branch. The party has provided key congressional votes for some of Trump’s nominees and has not deployed the full arsenal of legislative tools that are available to slow down Trump’s actions.
Rep. Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez
Connolly secured his position on the pivotal Oversight Committee after leaders in the House Democratic caucus—most notably former Speaker Nancy Pelosi—backed Connolly’s bid over Rep. Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez.
While other Democratic leaders have been fumbling for a response to Trump, the administration has been in a public feud with Ocasio-Cortez. Tom Homan, Trump’s handpicked immigration czar, has even called on the Department of Justice to investigate the congresswoman after she advised migrant communities of their constitutional rights.
In contrast to Connolly’s pro-compliance message, Ocasio-Cortez recently wrote, “America is not for sale. We have an obligation to resist kings. We outnumber them. And they can be overwhelmed.”
Public polling has recently shown that voters are starting to sour on Musk and DOGE. For instance, only 34% of respondents to a Washington Post-Ipsos poll said they approved of Musk while 55% in a Quinnipiac University poll said he had too much power. Democratic leadership is still behind the public when it comes to resisting Trump and Musk and there is little evidence so far that they have any motivation to catch up.
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[1] Url:
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2025/2/24/2305887/-Top-Democrat-proves-useless-as-Musk-makes-more-chaotic-demands?pm_campaign=front_page&pm_source=top_news_slot_11&pm_medium=web
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