Rep. Ro Khanna says he will force Elon Musk to “answer” for what he calls “unconstitutional DOGE cuts” once Democrats regain control of Congress, pointing to studies he says link the cuts to up to 4.5 million child deaths. Musk has vowed to sue Khanna and accu
Elon Musk’s lawyers and Rep. Ro Khanna’s political plans are colliding over a single accusation: that sweeping “DOGE cuts” have caused catastrophic harm to children.
Khanna, a California Democrat, said he still intends to force Musk to “answer” for what he calls his “unconstitutional DOGE cuts” once Democrats are back in control of Congress. His comments came days after he said Musk “possibly sentenced to death” 4.5 million kids with those cuts.
In an interview on MS NOW’s Morning Joe on Wednesday, Khanna doubled down on probing Musk. Co-hosts Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski raised Khanna’s earlier remarks. Musk had responded by vowing he is going to sue Khanna. calling the congressman a “liar.” Musk also said “corrupt” politicians like Khanna should be thrown in jail.
Scarborough didn’t ask Khanna a pointed question about the dispute. Instead. he backed Khanna’s claim that “one study after another study shows that those sweeping cuts have led to hundreds of thousands of deaths. possibly.” Scarborough added that if you “project it out over the next 5-10 years. the numbers get really depressing. real quick.”.
Khanna said he wasn’t sweating Musk’s threats.
“I’m less concerned about Musk threatening to put me in jail — which he doesn’t have the power to do — or sue me. ” Khanna said. “I’m more concerned that the world’s richest person presided over cuts that hurt the world’s poorest. I mean. you have two studies. the Lancet study. that said that those cuts could have led to potentially 4.5 million children dying… And then you have a Boston study talking about the deaths that actually took place based on these cuts.”.
He continued by framing Musk as someone who, in his view, understands politics but chose confrontation anyway.
“Look, this is not someone who is unfamiliar to me. I’ve known him for over a decade. He blurbed one of my books. I’ve tried to give him the benefit of the doubt when he did DOGE, but he is so consumed with his own wealth and power he thinks he can intimidate me. I’m not going to be intimidated.”
Khanna said Musk is lashing out because he believes power will shift.
“He thinks he can silence us. The reality is — why?. Why is he lashing out?. He sees the writing on the wall. He sees that the Democrats are going to be in charge. And now he’s finally going to have to answer. because when we subpoena him. he’s going to have to come before the committee and explain why he had those unconstitutional DOGE cuts.”.
Khanna tied that plan directly to House elections, saying, “And that’s why the House elections matter. Finally, we’re going to have accountability.”
The Morning Joe appearance followed Khanna’s comments on the I’ve Had It podcast last weekend. where he said Musk “needs to face investigation” for his DOGE cuts. On that podcast interview. Khanna said many people were celebrating Musk making thousands of SpaceX employees millionaires after the rocket company went public. Khanna argued that celebration doesn’t outweigh what he said was the harm those cuts inflicted.
“Once we take power, there needs to be accountability. There needs to be accountability for Elon Musk,” Khanna said. “You know. they’re celebrating that he created 4. 400 millionaires. but they don’t talk about the 4.5 million children around the world who he possibly sentenced to death by dismantling USAID.”.
Musk responded the next day by saying he was going to sue Khanna for the claim. Khanna then said he would prefer to debate Musk, rather than face a lawsuit.
The through-line between Khanna’s interviews is plain: one side is pressing for congressional consequences and subpoenas; the other is pushing back with legal action. In the middle are two studies Khanna cites—one he says could point to potentially 4.5 million child deaths. and another he says reflects the deaths that actually took place—both now driving a new escalation as the election fight approaches.
Ro Khanna Elon Musk DOGE cuts USAID Lancet study Boston study Morning Joe House elections congressional subpoena SpaceX accountability