Reps. Judy Chu (D-Calif.) and Gwen Moore (D-Wisc.) barged into House Speaker Mike Johnson’s office unscheduled on Wednesday and challenged him about Elon Musk’s team gaining access to a sensitive payment system at the Treasury Department.
Their intrusion, amid an escalation of Democratic backlash against Musk’s sweep through the federal government, came shortly after Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent arrived at the speaker’s office to discuss how to implement President Donald Trump’s tax agenda.
However, Moore said that Bessent was not in the room when she and Chu confronted Johnson.
“Gwen Moore forced her way in there, and then I got to go in right behind her,” Chu told reporters. “And she was already confronting Speaker Johnson about Treasury Secretary Bessent and the stealing of Americans’ private information, tax information that should never be stolen and given to this billionaire Elon Musk.”
Bessent, who was in Johnson’s office to meet with House Ways and Means Chair Jason Smith (R-Mo.), gave members of Musk’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency access to the payments system last weekend. The system controls trillions of dollars in payments for Social Security, tax refunds and myriad other government functions.
The Treasury Department told lawmakers Tuesday that Musk’s team currently has “read-only” access to the system and that their review “is not resulting” in any suspensions of or delays to disbursements approved by federal agencies.
A person who witnessed the episode at Johnson’s office denounced Chu’s and Moore’s actions.
“In the face of incredibly rude, extremely aggressive and frankly unhinged behavior, the Speaker was more than gracious and allowed the members into his personal office to hear their concerns,” said the person, who asked not to be named to freely discuss the matter.