The richest man in the world and former Department of Government Responsibility (DOGE) head, Elon Musk, has again found himself in hot water and on the outs with the inhabitants of the White House.

The mutual admiration society alliance between Musk and President Donald Trump came to an end this week, but even so, Musk seems to have avoided the worst possible, as The Washington Examiner reported.

In an effort to get Elon Musk to answer questions regarding his brief time in the Trump administration, Democrats on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee tried to subpoena him. Republicans on the committee rejected their request.

Despite Musk's brief but influential and controversial government service, Democrats' seemed to spark surprise in their move to force him to testify before the panel aimed to probing his time in government.

The Push Back

During a hearing on artificial intelligence , acting senior Democrat Rep. Stephen Lynch (Mass.) attacked the former head of the Department of Energy and Government Enterprise (DOGE), claiming that President Trump caused "disaster and danger... by turning our government over to his biggest campaign donor."

“We cannot sit here, however, and have the traditional bipartisan conversation about federal IT modernization without acknowledging the fact that the Trump administration, Elon Musk and DOGE are leading technology initiatives that threaten the privacy and security of all Americans and undermine our government and the vital services it provides to red states and blue states,” he said.

“Musk may say he has stepped away from his role in the federal government, but his recklessness will continue to have devastating consequences for America for years, possibly decades to come,” Lynch continued.

Republican Response

Few Republicans were present when the hearing started, so they postponed it for over 20 minutes to give their colleagues more time to show up and vote against the motion.

During the hearing, Republican chairwoman Nancy Mace (S.C.) poked fun at Democrats by saying they "looked good" in social media footage, while her Democratic colleagues sat in front of blown-up images of Elon Musk.

The Democrats, including Lynch, pushed Mace to call a vote as the clock ticked on.

A member of Congress from Texas, Jasmine Crockett, voiced her disapproval of the holdup, saying, "it has historically never taken this long for the clerk to call roll."

The Second Attempt

Democrats on the panel have tried to subpoena Musk twice before, but this was their first attempt since the leader of DOGE resigned after serving his final term as a special government employee.

Musk has disputed allegations of drug use, although his departure came as a result of those allegations.

Lynch claimed that Musk was given “free rein to terrorize our civil servants and drive more than 275,000 federal employees from their jobs serving the American people” and said he was among those in the Trump administration who are “more interested in self enrichment than public service.”