House Democrat: It'll take 'many years' to 'rebuild' from Musk 'destruction'

Rep. Melanie Stansbury (D-N.M.) said that it will take “many years” for the federal government agencies to “rebuild” from the “destruction” by tech billionaire Elon Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) panel. 

Stansbury, who sits on the House Oversight Committee, said during a Thursday night appearance on MSNBC’s “The Last Word” that investigations into DOGE are “ongoing” because many court cases are in play against the advisory panel, whose work has resulted in the firing of tens of thousands of federal workers led to effectively shutting down entire agencies. 

“I mean, these actual investigations are ongoing because there's so many court cases against what's going on. You know, it was just announced today that a judge was allowing a court case that's actually led by the Attorney General of New Mexico to continue because of the lawless way in which they've been conducting their activities under DOGE,” Stansbury said

“So I think it's going to take, frankly, not only many years to rebuild from the destruction that Elon Musk unleashed on the government, but to even understand what they did inside these agencies,” Stansbury told host Lawrence O'Donnell. “And also, I mean, the impacts are still being felt to this day.” 

Musk served as a special government employee in President Trump's administration, advising DOGE on cost-cutting efforts in hopes of rooting out waste, fraud and abuse and slashing down the national debt. 

Those efforts have received strong pushback from Democrats in Congress. 

Musk said on Wednesday that he is leaving the White House, shortly after criticizing Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” a massive GOP budget bill that contains the president’s legislative agenda. 

“I was, like, disappointed to see the massive spending bill, frankly, which increases the budget deficit … and it undermines the work that the DOGE team is doing,” Musk told “CBS Sunday Morning.”

On Thursday night, Trump announced on Truth Social that he would hold a press conference with Musk on Friday at 1:30 p.m. EDT

“This will be his last day, but not really, because he will, always, be with us, helping all the way. Elon is terrific! See you tomorrow at the White House,” the president wrote. 

Stansbury told O'Donnell that the impact of DOGE’s work is felt in her home state. 

“Last night, I was talking to a doctor here in New Mexico, who said he can't renew his license to give prescriptions right now because DOGE messed up the DEA website,” the New Mexico Democrat said. “So I mean, DOGE is still there, frankly, wreaking havoc on the federal government.”