'Why so comfortable?' CNN's Dana Bash shames Republican over handing power to Musk

CNN's Dana Bash pressed House Ways & Means Committee Chair Jason Smith (R-MO) Tuesday about how comfortable he seemed to be at willingly handing over Congress' power of the purse to Elon Musk.

"I do want to ask about the advocacy that you have had going on for a long time for Congress as the holder of the power of the purse, that is what the Constitution says," Bash began. "But you're also a big cheerleader for Elon Musk, who is unilaterally canceling programs and entire departments that Congress funded. Why are you so comfortable with Congress giving up that constitutionally mandated power?"

"It's not about Congress giving up any power," Smith answered. "It's strictly about looking at government as a whole, making sure it's efficient, making sure that money is not going in places that illegally it shouldn't have gone to. And it's just making sure that government is working for the people."

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Bash continued, "Well, I mean, the spending, by and large, is something that has been approved by the United States Congress. I'm not saying that you have voted for everything, but that is definitely the way it was set up. And, why take a sledgehammer instead of a scalpel if you just want to make sure that a lot of these funds, which you believe — and nobody's arguing this, I'm sure there is, a lot of we know, there's a lot of wasteful spending and maybe even fraud in the United States government — but in reality, some people are getting hurt."

Smith replied, "The whole purpose of freezing and putting a hold on everything right now is to review, to make sure it's working the way that Congress and the Executive is supposed to implement."

He added, "It's all going to work out. Right now, it's a little bit disruptive, but that's what this administration promised whenever they were coming to Washington, they would be disruptive and look at ways to make the government more efficient and working for the people."

Watch the clip below or at this link via CNN.