WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Peter Welch (D-Vt.) tonight took to the Senate floor to speak on President Trump and Elon Musk’s unconstitutional actions to dismantle federal institutions and called on Congress to protect federal agencies, programs, services, and employees that play an indispensable role in the lives of working Americans.
In his remarks, Senator Welch highlighted how the so-called ‘Department of Government Efficiency’s (DOGE) actions to dismantle the federal government have cost jobs and undercut federal programs in Vermont, including at Vermont’s Small Business Administration, for Vermont organizations that receive funding from USAID, and at the USDA office that helps towns recover from natural disasters like Vermont’s floods.
“We should all be outraged at the cruelty with which DOGE is operating. It’s cruel to the institutions that are important for each of our states and it’s cruel to the people who have been doing this work in good faith for so long,” said Senator Welch. “We’ve got to speak up and acknowledge that DOGE is destructive. We can embrace the effort to address waste, fraud and abuse. We can embrace the opportunity to streamline and save money, make things work better. But we can never abandon our commitment to the people of this country who work so hard.”
Watch Senator Welch’s speech below:
Read key excerpts from the Senator’s remarks:
“So, my first question with DOGE is why don’t you look where the money is, where the rip-offs are, instead of just sending out emails overnight telling people they’re fired, whose performance has been absolutely exemplary?”
“This is a situation that obviously is incredibly cruel. You’re working at the Department of Agriculture, you’re working at the NIH, you’re working on an USAID program, and life is going on and suddenly you get this email out of the blue—that it clearly is a mass email—but has a very specific impact on you, your life, your livelihood, and your hopes and dreams. I mean, that is just a savage, savage way to treat people who have been working in our various governmental agencies, and it has enormous impact on our communities.”
“This isn’t just about Elon Musk being a multibillionaire. No matter what happens it’s not going to really affect him. It’s about Elon Musk treating people with what I think is the utmost cruelty…Such disrespect for people who work hard at the VA, work hard in the NIH, work hard in the Department of Agriculture, work hard in the Department of Treasury. So, that element of this, we should all be shocked at.”
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“The verdict is in—[DOGE] has been a colossal failure. It’s done immense damage to many of our institutions and inflicted immense pain on innocent people. Also, it’s not going to be successful in its stated goal of ‘reducing spending and wasteful spending’…But here’s my problem with DOGE: They’re not looking in the right places.”
“We have work to do on saving money, and we have places where it’s absolutely essential we act. DOGE is blind to all of those, all of those situations. And that’s disgraceful.”
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Learn more about Senator Welch’s work by visiting his website or by following him on social media.
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