Elon Musk hinted Monday morning at which federal agency his Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) could shut down next after shuttering USAID last week.
President Donald Trump’s billionaire ‘first buddy’ has been on a rampage with his newfound power over the U.S. government.
He said that his DOGE team found out on Monday that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) sent payments of $59 million last week to luxury hotels in New York City to house illegal immigrants.
Musk is now demanding that the agency, which falls under the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), push a clawback demand.
It’s unclear if the demand will be met, but if it is, FEMA would be able to recuperate the millions in already-distributed funds.
‘Sending this money violated the law and is in gross insubordination to the President’s executive order,’ Musk claimed on his X platform on Monday.
He added: ‘That money is meant for American disaster relief and instead is being spent on high end hotels for illegals!’
Elon Musk said on Monday that his DOGE group found out FEMA sent $59 million to New York City luxury hotels last week to house illegal immigrants
Migrants wait to enter The Roosevelt Hotel in New York City on January 26, 2025
The federal government under former President Joe Biden faced backlash for housing migrants in hotels rather than spending the money on arrest and deportation efforts. The past administration also spent funds on providing other aid to illegal immigrants, including giving them cell phones.
FEMA falls under the purview of DHS Secretary Kristi Noem’s agency.
The former South Dakota governor said Sunday that if Trump asked her about FEMA, she would recommend that he ‘get rid’ of the agency.
It comes just one week after the thousands of employees with USAID (United States Agency for International Development) woke up to emails last Monday instructing them to stay home because the Washington, D.C. headquarters were shuttered.
Others were shocked to find themselves locked out of their work systems last week – and those overseas were told that travel back to the U.S. would be arranged within 30 days.
FEMA could be next on the chopping block, but it raises concern for those who are worried Americans faced with emergencies and natural disasters will no longer receive much-needed government aid when they’re in these situations in the future.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) could be next on the chopping block of Donald Trump’s administration as it seeks to save money and reduce government wasteful spending
DHS Secretary Kristi Noem said she would recommend that Donald Trump shut down FEMA, at least in ‘the way it exists today’
‘If the president came to you and said, you’re my DHS secretary, do you think I should get rid of FEMA, what would you say?’ CNN host Dana Bash asked during an interview on State of the Union on Sunday.
‘I would say, yes, get rid of FEMA the way it exists today,’ Secretary Noem replied.
‘We still need the resources and the funds and the finances to go to people that have these types of disasters like Hurricane Helene and the fires in California,’ she slightly walked-back. ‘But you need to let the local officials make the decisions on how that is deployed, so it can be deployed much quicker.’
‘We don’t need this bureaucracy that’s picking and choosing winners,’ the DHS Secretary said.
Musk said the federal government is making a ‘clawback demand’ to the hotels to recuperate funds paid last week to house illegal immigrants in New York City
