Rep. Jasmine Crockett could barely contain her joy at Elon Musk’s departure from the government.
President Donald Trump and Musk marked the end of the Tesla CEO’s work at the Department of Government Efficiency on Friday.
“Hallelujah is what I’ve got to say. Is it Sunday? Let us all give thanks to the good lord above,” Crockett said during an appearance on MSNBC’s The Weekend.
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While the progressive Texas representative rejoiced at Musk’s DOGE departure, Crockett impressed upon viewers the trail of destruction she says Musk has left in his wake.
“He is gone, but the ‘musk’ is still going to linger in the air,” she quipped. “There are so many people that have been impacted by these ridiculous and not thought-out cuts. It’s not just the federal workers; it’s those constituents of ours, our citizens, that are being impacted the hardest by these cuts.”
DOGE has claimed it slashed $175 billion in federal spending—far short of Musk’s stated $1 trillion goal. News organizations and government watchdogs have called even the lower number into question.
The purge across the federal government has nevertheless taken its toll, with an estimated two million jobs cut. Much of the United States Agency for International Development has also been dismantled.
Critics have also accused Musk of wielding his position on Trump’s team to secure lucrative contracts for his companies.
In April, the Department of Defence granted SpaceX a deal worth $6 billion in addition to its estimated $16 billion in existing contracts with the Pentagon, with the rocketmaker also emerging as a frontrunner for constructing Trump’s estimated $174 billion Golden Dome defense shield.
Other detractors have also suggested Musk has used his influence at the White House to stave off investigations into his business dealings that were launched under former President Joe Biden. Since Trump took office for the second time earlier in January, the Department of Defense has dropped a pre-existing lawsuit against SpaceX over alleged employment discrimination, with the National Labor Relations Board dropping a similar suit against the company only last month.
“[They] basically let this guy run wild, and honestly, I feel like all of the cuts to federal employees there was nothing more than a distraction for the things he really wanted to do, which is to make sure that there was no oversight of his companies,” Crockett said on Saturday.
Musk’s departure from the White House came amid a bombshell report from The New York Times alleging the tech billionaire consumed large amounts of ketamine, among other drugs, on such a regular basis as to have caused him issues with his bladder–a common side effect of chronic use.
Musk lashed out at the newspaper, accusing the news organization of peddling fake news about his alleged drug use.
Trump said on Friday that, even after departing DOGE, Musk will continue to advise the White House in a more informal capacity.
