House Financial Services Committee chairman Representative French Hill told CNBC that the Elon Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) office is “a good idea,” and after years of building up the national debt, government spending deserves to have “a good, fresh, outside look.”
Speaking on CNBC’s Squawk Box today, Hill said that Elon Musk and DOGE are looking for “efficiency” in all the government offices under the authorization of President Donald Trump. He went on to explain that the department, under the oversight of Elon Musk, will provide good recommendations to Congress in matters that require “statutory approval.”
When asked about the Tesla CEO’s recent comments on X, particularly about “feeding USAID into the wood chipper” and auditing the US Internal Revenue Service, Hill remarked that DOGE has government leaders like Mike Rubio, the US Secretary of State, whom the US Agency for International Development reports to.
Hill added:
“I think what President Trump and Rubio are saying is let’s see what the agency does and how it spends money. Is it in the interest of the US. I believe that while Musk is taking credit for most things, Secretary Rubio is the one it reports to, and he’s responsible for any direction the agency needs to take.”
Rep Hill: Crypto needs regulatory clarity to grow
CNBC asked the US Congressman about his opinion on the current state of the crypto market, mentioning that it had grown to over $3 trillion, with virtual currency exchange traded funds (ETFs) ammassed gains of billions of dollars, inspite of claims that the industry is being “chocked off” by excessive regulation.
“Well, I mean, what you say there is just, you know, not true. The reason we have an exchange traded product in Bitcoin, for example, is because people went to federal court to compel the SEC to do it because their arguments in court blocking it for years were incorrect,” Hill replied.
He criticized the “regulation by enforcement” approach from former US Securities and Exchange Commission chair Gary Gensler, which he argued pushed many crypto businesses out of the US and toward international markets.
Gensler left his position on January 20 after announcing his resignation in December last year.
With the former chair now gone, Hill reiterated the need for clear regulatory frameworks that provide guidance for both the SEC and the Commodities and Futures Trading Commission (CFTC).
“That’s not the right way to operate. And regulation by enforcement is a bad way to go. We should ask that they use an open process through the Federal Register to propose new rules, which Gary Gensler did not do, and to work with,” he said.
According to Hill, such legislation will be imperative in protecting investors, fostering innovation, and ensuring that the US leads in blockchain technology adoption globally.
He went on to mention that moving forward, his colleagues, including US Senate Banking Committee chairman Tim Scott and Senator John Bozeman, will merge efforts to prioritize speeding up digital asset regulations.
The Republican congressman hopes that this collaborative effort would help “encourage companies to use blockchain.”
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