Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) said on Wednesday he thinks all Americans should be concerned that tech billionaire Elon Musk is acting “in a sense, illegally, unconstitutionally.”
In a brief interview with NewsNation, Sanders identified “the growth of oligarchy” and “the move toward authoritarianism” as his primary concerns, amid ongoing efforts by President Trump and Musk to reshape the federal government.
“I think there are two issues. Number one is the growth of oligarchy,” Sanders said. “Every American should be concerned the richest guy in the world is running all over this country acting, in a sense, illegally, unconstitutionally.”
“Congress passes laws here,” he continued. “You don’t like those laws? You can change the laws. But you can’t just arbitrarily do what Musk is doing.”
In the first few weeks of Trump’s presidency, Musk has led a bold effort to dismantle federal agencies, buy out hundreds of thousands of federal workers from their jobs and take over payment systems within the Treasury Department and other agencies. He has done so in the name of cutting government spending and rooting out waste and abuse in federal agencies.
The effort, however, has sparked numerous lawsuits and pushback from Democratic lawmakers, who have accused Trump and Musk of operating outside the bounds of the law.
Trump, Musk and their allies have argued that voters elected the president in November and want him to implement his agenda.
The Hill is owned by Nexstar Media Group, which also owns NewsNation.
