Data, Dollars & Democracy —Thompson Sounds Alarm on Federal Overreach
By Sasha Paulsen
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Editor's Note: In place of our usual “Sunday E-dition,” we’re sharing special coverage of a recent town hall. Look for our regular edition next week.
Data, Dollars & Democracy —Thompson Sounds Alarm on Federal Overreach
By Sasha Paulsen
NAPA VALLEY, Calif. — U.S. Rep. Mike Thompson (4th District, California) California) hosted a Zoom town hall on Feb. 6, but the 1,000-participant limit was quickly reached, leaving many unable to join. The substantial overflow was directed to his Facebook page as the Democratic congressman, whose district includes Napa County, spent an hour fielding questions from constituents about developments in Washington, D.C., and the actions he and his colleagues are taking in response.
“As you know, in D.C. things have been pretty chaotic,” Thompson said. “I’ve heard from thousands of you with concerns about some of the actions of the new administration. The phones in my offices have been ringing off the hook. Back home this weekend, I couldn’t turn around without being stopped by someone who had concerns about what was going on. Please know that I share those concerns.”
Thompson described the situation as “Project 2025 playing out before our eyes,” referring to the 900-page playbook published by the American conservative think tank The Heritage Foundation in anticipation of Donald Trump winning the 2024 presidential election and outlining a plan for the dismantling of the U.S. government.
“This is unprecedented,” Thompson said. “There’s no one on this Zoom who’s ever experienced this.”
"At best, the administration giving DOGE access to your personal data is a constitutional overreach; at worst, this is the unlawful disclosure of financial records by someone who has never been on the government payroll, who’s employing teenage interns to comb through your data.” — Rep. Mike Thompson
He referred to the strategy at work, as described by Trump’s political advisor Steve Bannon and his personal lawyer, Ty Cobb: “This is what they call ‘flooding the zone’ with as much unconstitutional stuff as they can, as much illegal stuff as they can to see what will stick. Everything that (Trump) has done so far, he has either walked it back or the courts have walked it back. Even in areas when the president has lawful jurisdiction, his actions have threatened Americans. He started and stopped tariffs, but the threat of future tariffs hangs over us.”
Thompson noted that the war in Ukraine has not ended, and the price of eggs has not gone down, two things Trump had promised to do on Day One of his administration, “and now butter is seven bucks a pound.”
DOGE and the Law
In the forefront of questions were the actions of DOGE, the “Department of Government Efficiency,” created by President Trump and headed by billionaire Elon Musk. According to varying reports, Musk donated somewhere between $288 and $300 million to influence the 2024 election.
DOGE is not a Cabinet-level department of the U.S. government, which requires approval the Congress.
At the start of the town meeting, 882 people responded to a poll answer about the DOGE’s invasion of government institutions in which 90% replied, “Yes, I am extremely concerned about DOGE access to personal data,” 8% responded “somewhat concerned” and 2% that they were “not concerned.”
“This is a trend we are seeing across the country,” Thompson said.
“I agree that a lot of people voted to shake things up, but this is not the way to go,” he said, adding that he doubted that many voters wanted Musk’s team to have access to their personal, medical and taxpayer information.
“It’s a real problem when the government – our government – provides unfettered access to Americans’ medical, financial and veterans’ records to someone who was never elected nor vetted for the office or for so much as a security clearance,” Thompson said.
Thompson, a member of the Ways and Means Committee, said his committee “has jurisdiction over most of these things, and just this afternoon we held a press conference, sounding the alarm about the DOGE unlawful access to taxpayer data.
“At best, the administration giving DOGE access to your personal data is a constitutional overreach; at worst, this is the unlawful disclosure of financial records by someone who has never been on the government payroll, who’s employing teenage interns to comb through your data.
“This is serious. Federal law makes it unlawful for unauthorized people to view taxpayer data. Violating this statute is a felony, and it’s punishable by up to $5,000 in a fine and up five years in prison, and that’s for each piece of data that’s shared.”
Thompson said the DOGE efforts have extended into the Department of Veterans Affairs.
“I believe this is part of an effort to move toward the privatization of the veteran services. I don’t know any Republican veteran who wants this,” said Thompson, who served in the U.S. Army.
“I don’t know any Republican veterans who want to open their medical files or financial or privatize the veterans’ services.”
Watch a YouTube of the Virtual Town Hall Meeting
Other Issues
“There are other issues that should concern us all,” Thompson said. “The dangerous federal funding freeze, although temporarily blocked by the courts, is still causing major problems throughout our district, and I am talking to my colleagues who are seeing those same problems in their districts.
“The illegal freezing of funding is still having a terrible impact across the country. In our district alone, I’m hearing from constituents who are unable to get the funding they need to do local fire-mitigation projects, clean up toxic wastes, for training programs for young farmers, and it’s causing terrible problems with regard to important health research … you can’t just start and stop medical research.
“I hate waste, fraud and abuse as much as anyone,” Thompson said, “but if that’s your goal, the last thing you want to do is fire your inspectors general.
“It’s more accurate to say they’re tying to eliminate everything they can to ‘save money’ because, as you know, their tax cuts from 2017 expire and they’re trying to extend it. If they extend it in the form it’s in today, it’s going to cost $5 trillion dollars. If they add to it all the campaign promises, that number goes up to $16 trillion, and that tax cut will benefit the richest people among us and corporations. It does the least for working families and others lower on the economic spectrum.”
Questions from viewers ranged over a gamut of issues, from Trump’s interference in California water management to “Can you bring in the military to remove the president and Elon Musk due to their illegal activity?”
Thompson responded to the latter question by saying that rather than resort to the military, “We’re going to do it in Congress, in the courts and in the court of public opinion.
“My colleagues and I are working around the clock to ensure that this administration follows the rule of law. I’ve heard from a lot of you wondering what we are doing. We are working on this. It won’t be accomplished with a snap of a finger. It’s going to take a lot of work, a lot of organization and compliance with the law. We’re a nation of laws, and that’s what really sets us apart from many nations and makes us the great country that we are.”
Describing examples of efforts he and colleagues in Congress are undertaking, Thompson included:
Opposing attempts to defund Medicaid and other important programs,
Introducing legislation to prevent unlawful access to taxpayer data,
Supporting some 20 lawsuits against the unlawful freezing of federal funds, the firing of inspectors general, wrongful termination of civil servants and more.
He also cited the introduction of a congressional resolution, “which is an option in the House that demands that the Treasury Department answer questions that you and I and all Americans should have about the safety of their personal, financial and tax data as well as what is being done with that.
“This is only a start of the work that we’re doing to protect your privacy and security, and we’re not going to stop,” Thompson said. “We’re going to stay on this to be sure that the rule of law is followed.”
"Talk, tell your friends, tell your story If you have been affected by this, I want to know about it. It’s important for every member of Congress to hear how this is affecting their constituents. We need to understand the impact on our county and all across the country." — Rep. Mike Thompson
Other questions included Trump’s proposal to take over Gaza, which he called “beyond insane,” as well as the fate of the Department of Education, to which Thompson said, “If they spent half much time trying to improve our public schools as they are trying to shut down public education, we’d be light-years ahead.”
One viewer asked, “Are the banks safe? Thompson replied, “I believe they are safe, but there is a danger.”
On the question of confirmation of Trump’s nominees for Cabinet posts, in particular Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as Secretary of Health and Human Services, Thompson commented, “If Joe Biden had nominated that person, there wouldn’t be one Republican for him and few Democrats, either.”
Asked about the Trump proposal to put conditions on federal aid to rebuild Los Angeles, Thompson listed the number of natural disasters in “red” states — including floods, tornados and hurricanes — where Democrats had supported federal assistance. “When Americans need help, we respond, and we don’t put conditions on it.”
To the question, “What can we do?” including, “What can we do to support you?” Thompson replied, “You need to speak up. Make sure that your friends, neighbors, allies and adversaries know what’s going on. And if you are being affected by the actions of the administration, let me know.”
Thompson described phone calls from constituents that included one woman, a 20-year employee in U.S. intelligence with USAID, posted overseas, who told him she was terminated and given 48 hours to pack up everything she owns and leave.
“That’s no way to treat a loyal, hard-working government employee, but it’s probably illegal and it’s creating a lot of problems in our intelligence space and national security,” he said.
“Talk, tell your friends, tell your story If you have been affected by this, I want to know about it. It’s important for every member of Congress to hear how this is affecting their constituents. We need to understand the impact on our county and all across the country.”
Thompson said he will be holding in-person town halls throughout his district “throughout the year,” and he encouraged constituents to email questions to Thompson.townhall@mail.house.gov.
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Sasha Paulsen is a Napa Valley-based novelist and journalist.
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Presidents Trump and Musk--and apparently the whole of the Republican party--think that cutting federal spending and eliminating agencies duly constituted by acts of Congress is such an emergency that it requires suspending Article I Section 8 of the Constitution.
I’d like to stop all of Elon Musk’s activities until we can have that debate properly. And while we’re having that debate, we should put a moratorium on lies about condoms in Gaza and such.
I need to hear why the Presidents’ goals require ignoring the Constitution.
Thank you as always for providing good insight on a number of issues of concern to many. I seriously hope that the President will soon stop his distraction campaign and the non-elected Musk will be restrained or better- removed- so that many of our important processes, guidelines and legislation can once again guide us forward.