Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (Reuters)
Former Rep. Charlie Dent (R-PA) told MSNBC in passing that the Republicans he's hearing from are being "overwhelmed" by the flood of angry calls and emails from constituents back home.
Republicans are being confronted by voters who are angry with the massive government staffing cuts and broad spending freezes ushered in by the new Donald Trump administration.
As Trump delivers the State of the Union Address on Tuesday evening, a political analyst panel questioned whether he will talk about Elon Musk and his slashing of government jobs and services. Dent said that's a terrible idea.
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"As a political matter, I don't think it makes a whole lot of sense to be highlighting Elon Musk, given that his numbers are much lower than the president's," he said. "And from what I'm picking up — the intelligence I'm getting from a lot of congressional Republican offices, many of the calls and complaints they're receiving — and they are overwhelmed with complaints — are about Elon Musk and DOGE and access to Social Security numbers to the Treasury."
Tech billionaire Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) task force was established not by congressional legislation but by a Trump executive order.
"I mean, so Elon Musk has become, I think, quite a liability for Republicans," Dent continued. "So, highlighting him makes absolutely no sense to me. And you know, if the Democrats are smart, they're just going to keep focusing on economics and inflation or they're going to talk about Elon Musk and DOGE and the national security situation, and then clam up."
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