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Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Today’s markup of these two Resolutions of Inquiry is an important step in ensuring Congress continues its important job of oversight over the executive branch. Let’s be clear: what we are seeking today is simply transparency from the Trump Administration and DOGE as to what they have done behind closed doors at agencies that carry sensitive, personal information of every American taxpayer. We are just looking for information. Passing these resolutions would ensure transparency in our government, rejecting them would allow the executive branch to hide in the darkness from the American people and from Congress, unchecked as they rifle through the people’s data. 

It is important that as members of Congress that we continue using every tool available to conduct necessary oversight of the Trump Administration for the good of the American people. It is both unclear and unsettling why DOGE continues to seek access to private and confidential information at agencies across government behind closed doors while telling the public something different. No one should be rummaging around in the confidential information of private citizens at any agency where protected information resides.

Privacy is next to liberty in our Democratic system, yet the President and his billionaire cabinet are jeopardizing that standard for their own power and enrichment, and House Republicans haven’t so much as raised an eyebrow. Americans should know this: every time this Administration threatens the health and well-being of the American people, Ways and Means Democrats will be there fighting and sounding the alarm. I applaud Ranking Member Doggett and Ranking Member Larson for their steadfast leadership in holding DOGE accountable and protecting the American people’s data.

What we have seen over the last 7 weeks is unacceptable. Unaccountable and unelected people with no experience in the systems of our government have been rifling through the people’s data. 

Under a false guise of finding waste, fraud, and abuse, they are seeking to dismantle institutions that tens of millions rely on. It’s unfortunate we even have to mark up these resolutions today. The President and Elon Musk should be answering the questions members of Congress, and the American people are asking, what data they are harvesting, who is harvesting it, and what they plan to do with it. Executive oversight is a fundamental responsibility of Congress, and Democrats are stepping up when Republicans won’t. In fact, yesterday, our colleagues stripped this body of one of these fundamental Constitutional obligations—oversight of the Executive Branch on trade. 

The Courts have spoken, putting limits on what DOGE is allowed to access and tamper with. Yet, as we have seen recently, DOGE representatives aren’t taking no for an answer. Now, they are attempting to use a database at HHS as a back door entrance. Trump and his allies have made clear that Americans’ private and sensitive information is theirs to harvest and profit off of. 

All the while, Republicans have been silent, and in some cases, defending the invasions. But that’s not surprising. For years, Republicans have been gunning for and fearmongering against benefit programs in America, looking to weaken Social Security and Medicare’s brands as an excuse to destroy them. 

The President and House Republicans are the greatest threat to Social Security, which stands proudly as a bedrock for our seniors and our nation’s economic security.

They call it a Ponzi scheme. A scam. The next ‘big thing’ to be cut. Democrats call it a promise. An earned benefit. Something no billionaire or unelected and unaccountable robber baron should have their hands on. 

Democrats are fighting to protect the 70 million Social Security beneficiaries from an out-of-control executive branch, and to protect the sensitive data of every American. 

Congress and the American people deserve answers to what is happening behind closed doors at Social Security, Treasury, and every government agency that has found itself in DOGE’s crosshairs. While Republicans might be too scared to ask the hard questions, afraid to find themselves on the wrong end of a social media storm, Democrats will stand up, fight for the American people against this gross executive overreach, and get them answers they deserve. 

With that, I yield the balance of my time.

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