Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA) said Elon Musk threatened to sue him after he suggested DOGE cuts possibly led to the deaths of 4.5 million children overseas by cutting funding to the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).

“Today, Elon Musk threatened to sue me and he called on the Justice Department to put me in prison,” Khanna said.

“The world’s richest person has spent all day tweeting, going after me. Why? Because I cited an academic study that his DOGE cuts may lead to the deaths of millions of children overseas,” Khanna continued.

“Why not debate me on these issues instead of threatening lawfare?” Khanna asked.

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Khanna suggested that the Democratic Party take initiative to hold Musk accountable if they were to regain control over the House of Representatives or the Senate.

“I do believe once we take power, there needs to be accountability,” Khanna said on the “I’ve Had It” podcast. “There needs to be accountability for Elon Musk. 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.”

Khanna continued, “He needs to answer for that. He needs to be subpoenaed. He needs to face investigation. He needs to answer for what he did with DOGE [Department of Government Efficiency]. It’s not just ‘let’s move on.’”

Host Jennifer Welch agreed with the idea of investigating Musk, claiming that he was responsible for “killing” millions through DOGE’s government spending cuts.

“I love that we need to keep pushing the talking point that you just had that we don’t need to celebrate Elon Musk making other people millionaires. If you are the party of pro-life like you say you are, MAGA, he’s killing millions of the poorest people on the planet,” Welch said. “So I think that hypocrisy there is really stunning.”

“Time to sue this liar,” Musk said in response to the article.

“There is not even a single dead child! If there were, it would be worldwide headline news!” Musk said.

“Absolutely. This is a total lie. All DOGE did was require contact with the aid recipients to confirm that funds were being used legitimately. Anything less than this is insane! Multiple people from USAID have been charged by the Justice Department with stealing money. Moreover, they pled GUILTY!!” Musk said in another post.

The Independent shared further:

Musk, who temporarily oversaw DOGE, a Trump administration initiative to scale down the federal workforce and make massive cuts to what he called wasteful government spending, has been defensive of the group’s cuts.

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Monday, he insisted DOGE’s cuts to USAID were the result of a new rule that required the agency to contact aid recipients to confirm funds were being used legitimately. He pointed to a Justice Department release that said one USAID employee and three contractors pleaded guilty to bribery and fraud.

“The reality is that money was being sent to corrupt politicians under the guise of aid! Liars and stock insider traders like Ro the Robber should be in prison!!” Musk wrote.

Khanna responded to Musk’s attacks by pointing to a 2025 study that determined, without access to USAID resources and funding, 14 million people in low-and-middle-income countries could die by 2030 – including more than 4.5 million children under the age of 5.

Advocates of USAID had long warned of the potential consequences of shuttering USAID, which assisted in researching and providing medical solutions to global health problems such as HIV/AIDS, malaria, polio and more. The agency also assisted in emergency disaster relief, providing nutrition to areas experiencing famine, bolstering economic development and more.

USAID, once the world’s largest foreign aid agency, was effectively closed down by the Trump administration last year.

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