US Democrats eye Elon Musk, Stephen Miller probes after midterm rout
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Tech billionaire Elon Musk (left) and newly appointed White House Chief of Staff Stephen Miller are likely to face congressional scrutiny when Democrats take control of US Congress in January.
PHOTOS: REUTERS, ERIC LEE NYTIMES
WASHINGTON - Tech megabillionaire Elon Musk and President Donald Trump’s newly appointed White House chief of staff, Stephen Miller, will likely be targets of congressional probes when Democrats take control of Congress in January, a senior lawmaker said on Nov 8.
California Representative Robert Garcia, who is in line to chair the powerful House Oversight Committee in 2027 after Democrats’ sweeping midterm election victory, said investigations will focus on Musk’s involvement in the Department of Government Efficiency’s firing of federal workers in 2025, and Miller’s role in Trump’s hardline immigration crackdown.
“I think there’s a lot of interest, not just from our committee, but from committees across the Congress to speak to Mr Musk,” Garcia told CNN’s State of the Union.
Miller — whom Garcia called the architect of a “horrific, unjust” immigration policy — has been promoted to White House chief of staff, Trump said on Nov 6.
“Stephen Miller is at the centre of the major policy decisions that are happening in the administration, and so it does deserve oversight and investigation,” Garcia said.
The crackdown on immigration, which included operations in which two people were fatally shot in Minnesota by federal agents, has proven widely unpopular. A Reuters/Ipsos poll in October found that only 37% approved of Trump’s handling of immigration, down from 50% when he took office.
Voters delivered a historic rebuke to Republicans in the Nov 3 midterm election, but with Miller as White House chief of staff, the Trump administration is expected to continue its aggressive approach to immigration enforcement, amplify cultural conflicts and give no ground to a Democratic-controlled Congress, say officials and experts who spoke to Reuters.
Hegseth ‘has to go’
Hakeem Jeffries, who will become speaker of the US House in January, said on Nov 8 that Democrats would support a measure to impeach Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, a congressional process that could remove him from office.
Representative Thomas Massie, a Kentucky Republican, has said he will reintroduce articles of impeachment against Hegseth soon. Jeffries said he is a “hard yes” on backing that measure.
“Pete Hegseth has got to go... I believe there will be incredibly strong support for that resolution,” Jeffries told ABC’s This Week, citing the defense secretary’s oversight of the unpopular Iran war launched by Trump in February, which has led to a spike in gas prices.
Attorney-General Todd Blanche signalled on Nov 8 that the Trump administration was prepared to battle the Democrats in Congress, calling threats by some Democrats to target administration officials and allies “not something we can tolerate in this country.”
“If that’s what this new incoming leadership wants to do, we are ready,” Blanche said. “If you work in this administration, you have a lawyer. It’s me.” REUTERS