House Democrats try and fail to subpoena Elon Musk

• Amid pressure from their grassroots, Democrats have spent the week trying to stage acts of resistance against the Trump administration.

Driving the news: During a House Oversight Committee hearing in which Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds (R) testified about "rightsizing government," ranking member Gerry Connolly (D-Va.) introduced a motion to subpoena Musk.

• Connolly's motion failed in a 19 to 20 vote, with all Democrats present voting for the subpoena and all Republicans voting against it.
• Oversight Committee chair James Comer (R-Ky.) spurred a chaotic back-and-forth between members of the two parties by blocking any debate on the motion.

What they're saying: Musk's leadership of the Department of Government Efficiency is "a puzzling role for many people, certainly on this side of the aisle, and I think some on yours," Connolly told Comer of his motion.

• He added: "Who is this unelected billionaire that he can attempt to dismantle federal agencies, fire people, transfer them, offer them early retirement and have sweeping changes to federal agencies without having any congressional review?"
• "Given his prominence and his importance," Connolly said, "I move that the committee subpoena Elon Musk to come before it at the earliest possible moment."

The other side: After the vote failed, Comer argued that Democrats should have invited Musk to voluntarily testify to the panel as a minority witness.

• "You all chose to have a college professor, which you normally choose to have as a witness at any hearing and that's fine, but you all had an opportunity to invite Elon Musk and you choose not to," Comer said.
• "You make a point," Connolly responded, but "given the prominence Mr. Musk has been given by President Trump ... he is not a minority witness, he ought to be a full committee witness."