‘You’re out of order’: Rep. James Comer shuts down Democrats’ subpoena of Elon Musk
Rep. James Comer quashed a motion by Democrats in the House Oversight Committee on Wednesday to subpoena billionaire tech mogul Elon Musk to answer questions about his unprecedented role in shrinking the U.S. government.
Republicans defeated the motion 20-19 on a party-line vote in which members squabbled over each other about Musk and proper decorum on the committee.
“You all could have invited Mr. Musk to be your minority witness,” Comer told Democrats after the vote. “But you all chose to have a college professor, which you normally choose to have as a witness.”
Wednesday’s hearing was titled “Rightsizing Government” and witnesses included Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds, Citizens Against Government Waste President Thomas A. Schatz and William G. Resh, a policy and management professor from the University of Southern California. They were called to discuss ways to make government more efficient.
Comer, who chairs the Oversight Committee, hailed Musk as one of the world’s most successful entrepreneurs and praised his efforts to lead the newly created Department of Government Efficiency, which has a stated goal of cutting $2 trillion.
“Real innovation isn’t clean and tidy. It’s necessarily disruptive and messy. But that’s exactly what Washington needs right now. And it’s what the American people voted for in November: a departure from the broken status quo,” Comer said.
“This committee intends to work in partnership with DOGE. We want to reinforce its efforts, and not blunt the momentum it’s generating for needed change to the federal bureaucracy.”
Rep. Gerry Connolly, Democratic ranking member on the Oversight Committee, questioned Musk’s power to singularly dismantle federal government agencies, fire employees and institute sweeping changes without congressional review or approval.
Connolly then made the motion to subpoena Musk.
When Comer declared that the motion was not debatable, committee Democrats began to erupt in protest.
New Mexico Rep. Melanie Stansbury, a Democrat, told Comer it was “outrageous” that the committee would not entertain the motion, prompting Comer to cut her off.
“That’s not a point of order,” Comer said as multiple representatives began talking over each other. “Out of order. . . Ms. Stansbury, you’re out of order, you know you’re out of order, you know the rules of this committee.”
“Mr. Elon Musk is out of order,” Stansbury replied.
The raucous episode on Capitol Hill reflects Democrats’ rising frustration with Musk’s unprecedented role in the Trump administration. More than a dozen lawmakers launched an anti-Musk protest outside the Treasury Department in Washington on Tuesday evening.
The sheer anger at Musk gaining access to federal payment systems and slashing the U.S. Agency for International Development has energized Democrats at a time when their power is severely diminished.
And Comer flexed the power of GOP committee control on Wednesday, shutting down the debate around Musk Democrats want to have.
This story was originally published February 5, 2025 at 1:38 PM.
