A veteran Democratic lawmaker was so incensed over Elon Musk’s work at DOGE that he began screaming and turning red during a congressional hearing.
Rep. John Larson, D-Conn., was visibly enraged during a House Ways and Means Committee meeting on Wednesday.
The entire purpose of the session was to debate questions put forward by Democrats about Musk and DOGE accessing American’s Social Security information and data held by the Treasury Department during the group’s cost-cutting reviews.
Larson claimed that the committee, led by Republican Chairman Jason Smith, was neglecting its responsibilities overseeing Social Security by allowing Donald Trump and Musk’s DOGE to reform the agency.
‘Where’s the independence of the committee!’ Larson screamed.
‘Where’s Elon Musk? I’m sure he’s a genius and is a very credible person because of the wealth he’s accumulated, but that does not put him above the law or the responsibility to come before this committee in this Congress,’ the 76-year-old yelled.
‘if he’s so great, if these plans and all the fraud and abuse that he found are so imminent, why isn’t he here explaining it?’
Larson accused Smith of ‘blathering’ about all the accomplishments of the cost-cutting group.
The Connecticut Democrat, who has served since 1999, pointed at the Republican side of the dais and wagged his finger when slamming his colleagues and Musk.
Smith opened up the meeting by noting how Democrats are attempting ‘to throw sand in the gears of the Trump Administration’s important work to expose the waste, fraud, and abuse in our government.’
The Republican claimed that those on the other side of the aisle only started caring about securing taxpayer information, noting how the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has not been able to identify everyone who has accessed their internal data.
Larson charged that the Tesla CEO and DOGE leader is ‘out to privatize Social Security.’
‘He’s been on television the last couple of days talking exactly about Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, and what he intends to do privatizing.’
The animated exchange was surprising considering Larson’s recent health history.
Just last month the Democrat suffered a medical emergency while speaking on the House floor.
The 76-year-old representative shared that he experienced a ‘complex partial seizure’ after he froze during his remarks.
Speeches on the House floor are televised live, and clips of the freezing incident quickly went viral on social media.
In the video Larson can be seen giving an animated address about Social Security before pausing silently for seconds before trying to finish his speech.
But his words appeared to trickle out with much difficulty, and something clearly seemed wrong.
Soon after the incident, Larson’s team explained that the episode was likely caused by an ‘adverse reaction to a new medication.’
But after getting evaluated it has since been learned that the partial seizure was to blame.
‘Yesterday, at around noon, I experienced a medical incident on the House floor, when my speech momentarily paused,’ a statement on Larson’s X account reads.
‘Following the incident, I saw the House Attending Physician, Dr. Monahan, who referred me for further evaluation.’