To the editor:

I was among the group of six constituents visiting Representative Brad Finstad’s office described in Thursdays article. I wish to add some background.

On President Trump’s first day back in office, he created the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) by Executive Order. It’s mission is to “slash excessive regulations, cut wasteful expenditures and restructure federal agencies.”

In an unprecedented (legal?) move, President Trump appointed tech billionaire and advisor Elon Musk as the sole head of DOGE. Elon Musk is not an elected official of this government, nor was he vetted or approved by Congress. Brad Finstad is a member of the DOGE caucus.

One of Musk’s first “official” actions was to halt payments to USAID — a pillar of US diplomacy. In 2023, USAID cost the federal government 1.2% of the federal budget by assisting countries affected by famine, civil war, disease and natural disasters. USAID employees were then notified via email that they were being placed on Administrative Leave. This callous method of notification was also used by Musk when he purchased Twitter (now X) and terminated 80% of the workforce with the now infamous “Fork in the Road” email.

Federal workers, FBI agents, prosecutors and CIA agents have also been given notice they may lose their jobs – for efficiency reasons- and again via email. As Representative Finstad stated in the Journal article President Clinton did make a similar request of employees, but the circumstances were completely different and he had approval of a bi-partisan Congress.

DOGE/Musk was also recently granted access to the Treasury Department’s $6 trillion payment system with access to sensitive information regarding social security, Medicare, veteran’s benefits, disability and personal tax refund information. How can this be legal? What type of clearance do Musk and his staff have? What security measures/oversight are in place? I would like an answer from Representative Finstad on what, if any checks and balances are in place to prevent unlawful disclosure of this information?

It is also time to give Musk the “Fork in the Road” email.

Pat Booker

New Ulm