U.S. Representative Tim Burchett (R-TN-02) on Thursday urged Elon Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) to extend their investigations of government graft and waste to the U.S. Congress, where he predicted the businessman and his team of budget cutters would learn lawmakers are the recipients of “ill-gotten gains” which influence their votes.
Burchett made the remarks during an appearance on C-SPAN’s “Washington Journal,” first telling the network that he would “wholeheartedly support” efforts by the U.S. Senate to make DOGE cuts permanent, before suggesting Musk should expand the breadth of his work.
“I suspect that the paper trail will lead back to some influential people and some folks, maybe even members of Congress,” said Burchett. “That’s one thing I suggested to Musk: There are 435 members of Congress and I think you ought to investigate every dadgum one of them for ill-gotten gains.”
The Tennessee Republican joked, “As I said that, I heard a loud noise behind me, didn’t know if someone took a shot at me.”
Asked for specifics about why Burchett suspected Musk could find corruption in Congress, he suggested that lawmakers votes can be swayed by romantic entanglements or through opportunity for financial gain, and specifically cited Congressional stock trading around the Ukraine war.
“When we gave Ukraine our missile defense system, by presidential order Biden did that, we had to replenish our missile supply in this country. Which we should, we can’t be naked in the defense of our country,” said Burchett, before turning to the opportunity for financial enrichment.
“Who owns stock in those companies? Members of Congress, both parties.” He continued, “When did they buy the stock? Some of them just a couple of weeks prior to that decision by the president. Those are the kinds of things America needs to pay attention to. I think that Elon Musk could bring that to light.”
Burchett made similar remarks when asked about the level of access given to DOGE employees by CNN last month.
“The IRS has hundreds of different groups that have access to this stuff, and yet no one’s complained about that,” said Burchett. He told host Pam Brown, “The only reason you’d have questions is if you’re doing something crooked, and you’re going to see lots of Congressmen with red faces when they follow this paper trail back to members of Congress, ma’am. That’s the bottom line.”
Watch the interview:
– – –
Tom Pappert is the lead reporter for The Tennessee Star, and also reports for The Pennsylvania Daily Star and The Arizona Sun Times. Follow Tom on X/Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
