Staff photo by Fritz Busch A group of concerned citizens and Indivisible St. Peter/Greater Mankato members talked about what they want 1st District Congressman Brad Finstad to do about Elon Musk at Finstad’s downtown New Ulm office Wednesday. From left, Finstad’s Communications Director Jenny Luepke, Madelia optometrist Viktoria Davis, Marietta McCarty and Marion Broida, St. Peter; Kim Henrickson, North Mankato; Pat Booker, New Ulm and Kat Baumann, Mankato.

NEW ULM — Six citizens of Indivisible St. Peter/Greater Mankato voiced concerns about recent federal government developments in First District IR Congressman Brad Finstad’s office Wednesday.

The group is defined as dedicated to positive, progressive action to make people’s lives better and create a more sustainable, equitable, and inclusive world by informing, inspiring and empowering members to be involved and act.

Concerns centered on Elon Musk and what they called “his government takeover,” that included taking away the job of Congress and being responsible for the largest data breach in U.S. history, in the U.S. Social Security Administration and U.S. Treasury Department database that contain many types of private information and puts private information at risk.

“Our big concern today is Elon Musk and his influence on our government in the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), an unauthorized government agency that appears to be acting on behalf of our government. That is deeply, deeply concerning. We feel its the job of Congress to fund the government constitutionally speaking,” said Viktoria Davis, a Madelia optometrist.

“I think we all agree there is wasteful spending in government. But trying to eliminate federal employees across the board is not the way to do it,” said Davis.

Marion Broida of St. Peter, a non-fiction author and scholar in Jewish and Biblical Studies, said Musk is a billionaire who bought his way into many companies and is now acting in his own best interest.

“Many needy people who voted for Finstad around here are terrified of losing Social Security funds and food stamps. Musk needs to go. He’s illegal, unconstitutional and outrageous,” she said.

The citizen group wants Musk to be removed from all federal government roles, ensure he had no access to federal programs and personal data of U.S. residents, forbid anyone from locking federal workers out of their workplace.

The citizens asked for town hall meetings with Finstad so they can talk to him directly.

Finstad was asked to support Lutheran Social Services (LSS), which was recently accused of being a money laundering organization and illegally receiving federal payments.

Several citizens said LSS provides senior meals, homeless youth support, adoption assistance, financial counseling and immigrant legal services.

Also on Wednesday, Finstad, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and U.S. Sen Tina Smith also weighed on Musk.

“A billionaire tech mogul (Musk) shouldn’t be running our government, but that’s exactly what is happening. President Trump handed Musk the keys to the federal bureaucracy and now he wants to slash essential programs, gut protections for working families, and make life even harder for everyday Americans…We can’t sit back and let that happen,” said Gov. Tim Walz.

U.S. Senator Tina Smith (D-Mn) called for congressional hearings on Musk’s infiltration of federal agencies.

“We are deeply concerned that following the federal grant a loan freeze earlier this week, as well as Musk’s comments on social media, officials associated with Musk may have intended to access payment systems to illegally withhold payments authorized by law, and to circumvent court orders prohibiting that freeze from going into effect,” said Smith.

Finstad’s Communication Director Jenny Luepke said the DOGE Caucus was designed to reduce wasteful government spending and save taxpayer dollars.

“My understanding is Brad (Finstad) is on the DOGE Caucus to look closely at wasteful spending, which he said is out of control,” said Luepke.

In a conference Wednesday, Finstad said President Trump created the DOGE by executive order and the search for government waste is not unusual and that there is lots of misinformation about what goes on in Washington.

“It’s pretty typical for a new president to look under the hood and see what changes can be made. It’s important we look at all levels of government spending. We’ve seen hundreds of millions of dollars fraudulently misused in Minnesota. The country is $36 trillion in debt,” he said.

Finstad said examples of federal government waste include $2 million for classes teaching Moroccans how to make pottery, $20 million for Iraqis to create their version of “Sesame Street” and $27 million for gift bags for deported Central American residents.

He said federal worker buyouts are not new, that former President Bill Clinton offered them too.

“Nobody is forcing federal workers to take buyouts,” said Finstad.

Finstad blames the Lutheran Social Services issue on the response to social media misinformation.

He said held listening sessions in every county he serves over the last 18 months.

“I continue to travel the First District when I’m home. I will continue to be accessible. I answer when people call,’ said Finstad.