Former Democratic congressman Dean Phillips suggested that the efforts of Elon Musk “should be celebrated” by his party.
Phillips, who opted not to run for reelection for his Minnesota seat last November, has long called for his former colleagues to side with Musk over his volunteer participation in the Department of Government Efficiency. On Saturday, Phillips appeared on Fox News’s My View with Lara Trump to renew his call for support.
“This is the pendulum of American politics: people loved Elon Musk when he was making electric cars, and he was the darling of the Left. I think a little less condemnation, a little bit more understanding what he’s actually trying to do, which is rectify generations of mismanagement by Democrats and Republicans of the federal government should be celebrated,” Phillips said.
However, Phillips echoed the concerns of Rep. Jared Moskowitz (D-FL), who claimed the House caucus meant to participate in the DOGE federal spending cuts hasn’t met in months and was effectively “dead.” Moskowitz denied that the caucus influenced Musk, who heads DOGE. He said, “We weren’t involved at all in anything Elon was in charge of. Zero. Zilch. Nada. [Musk] did it all on his own.”
“Now, should we be more transparent? Should the strategy be one that’s developed in unison with the other side of Democrats? Yes,” Phillips said. “I was trying to encourage my Democrat colleagues to actually work with him.”
Moskowitz’s claims were rejected by the caucus, which is co-chaired by Reps. Aaron Bean (R-FL), Pete Sessions (R-TX), and Blake Moore (R-UT). Sessions explained to the Washington Examiner that “the Congressional DOGE Caucus is distinct from the Administration’s DOGE initiative led by Elon Musk.”
These comments follow Musk’s pledge to scale back his volunteer effort to DOGE in the coming weeks. Musk reported, “In the grand scheme of things, I think we’ve been effective. Not as effective as I like.”
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DOGE is operating with the goal to accomplish all of its work by July 4, 2026.
Before he retired from the House, Phillips attempted a primary challenge against then-President Joe Biden in 2024. Phillips claimed he could see Biden’s “serious decline” and predicted the former president’s reelection campaign would only hand now-President Donald Trump the win. In the end, Phillips garnered 3% of the popular vote and four delegates.