Monday on Fox News Channel’s “Fox & Friends,” Rep. Ralph Norman (R-SC) reacted to Elon Musk’s edict to federal workers to respond to an email asking what they did over the past week or face termination.
The South Carolina Republican lawmaker noted that taxpayer-funded payroll was more than $270 billion, amounting to an average salary of $106,000 annually.
He asked if, given that burden, it was too much to ask for accountability from those federal employees.
“[I]f you look at this, there are roughly 3 million federal workers. The price tag that the taxpayers pay is right at $271 billion a year. Is it too much to ask for them to verify why they’re making an average salary of $106,000 a year? Do you think in the private sector that that single mom who is working two jobs at a restaurant can’t justify where she was or the hygienist at the dentist’s office can’t verify what — you know, how many patients they saw? The absurdity and, I guess, the arrogance of the workers who says that’s a heavy lift is what’s wrong with the — that’s what the Americans are sick and tired of. It’s not their money. We’re the ones who are paying the bills. We have a right to know.”
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