President Donald Trump gave Department of Government Efficiency founder Elon Musk a shoutout during his address to a joint session of Congress.
Musk, who leads Trump’s efforts to cut waste and fraud in the federal government, was in the visitor gallery of the House chamber for the address. The DOGE head has been criticized by Democrats, who booed him, but the boos were drowned out by an ovation from the chamber as Trump pointed him out during the speech.
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ELON MUSK REPRIMANDED FOR FILMING BEFORE TRUMP ADDRESS
“Thank you, Elon. He’s working very hard. He didn’t need this. He didn’t need this. Thank you very much. We appreciate it,” Trump said about the billionaire SpaceX and Tesla CEO.
“Everybody here, even this side, appreciates that, I believe. They just don’t want to admit that,” Trump continued, referring to the Democrats in the House chamber.
Trump then listed various examples of government expenditures he says are wasteful, including $40 million to “improve the social and economic inclusion of sedentary migrants” and “$8 million for making mice transgender.”
While Musk has been touted as the de facto head of DOGE, he is an adviser to Trump in the White House. Amy Gleason serves as the acting administrator of DOGE.
AL GREEN REMOVED FROM HOUSE CHAMBER AFTER PROTESTING TRUMP ADDRESS
The address started on a chaotic note because Democrats loudly protested the president early into his speech. Rep. Al Green (D-TX) began yelling at Trump, leading to House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) warning the chamber to obey decorum and ordering Green to be removed after Green refused to stop interrupting.
The speech is Trump’s first to a joint session of Congress since his 2020 State of the Union address during his first term in office. Tuesday’s speech, while not called a State of the Union, is similar to the annual address.