Trillionaire Elon Musk indicated Monday that he will sue Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) after the lawmaker claimed the former Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) chief may have “sentenced” 4.5 million children “to death” through budget cuts implemented by his department.
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“I do believe once we take power, there needs to be accountability,” Khanna told left-wing podcaster Jennifer Welch on Sunday. “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.”
The Democrat cited a highly disputed study, partially funded by the Socialist Spanish Ministry of Science and published in The Lancet in July 2025, that suggested severe aid reductions could lead to 14 million deaths, though he provided no direct evidence linking specific DOGE actions to the outlandish projection.
Khanna also suggested that Democrats will launch an investigation into Musk if they take power in the midterm elections.
“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,’” he told Welch.
Musk responded to Khanna’s remarks on X Monday morning, by stating simply, “Time to sue this liar.”
The Tesla and SpaceX CEO explained that the USAID funds were actually being funneled to “corrupt politicians” like “Ro the Robber” rather than legitimate recipients.
“The standard applied by DOGE was very simple and easy: Provide contact information for the recipients of aid, so that we can confirm it is not fraudulent,” he posted on X. “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!!”
“All DOGE did was require contact with the aid recipients to confirm that funds were being used legitimately. Anything less than this is insane!” Musk wrote in a subsequent post. “Multiple people from USAID have been charged by the Justice Department with stealing money,” he added. “Moreover, they pled GUILTY!!”
Musk posted a link to a recent Department of Justice press release on the case: USAID Official and Three Corporate Executives Plead Guilty to Decade-Long Bribery Scheme Involving Over $550 Million in Contracts; Two Companies Admit Criminal Liability for Bribery Scheme and Securities Fraud.
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He dubbed Khanna “Ro the Robber” in response to podcast host Katie Miller’s post stating that “Ro is the number one stock trader in Congress.”
“Last year, he reported 4,300 trades with 59 million in total trade volume,” Miller, who is married to top Trump advisor Stephen Miller, wrote on X. “He also recently purchased a $9.5 million home in the DC area.”
Analysis from early 2026 indicates that trades associated with his family achieved a 112 percent outperformance against the S&P 500 between January 2024 and April 2026, a return rate even higher than that of former Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
“Robber Khanna should be in prison,” Musk stated.
Since he’s been in office, Khanna’s net worth has ballooned from “roughly $27–46 million to an estimated $232.7 million,” X account DOGE Designer reported, Monday afternoon.
• 631 million total trade volume across 38,666 trades since entering Congress, most prolific Democratic trader in House history.
• 2022 investigation found 15 percent overlap between his legislative work and family stock holdings
• Ro Khanna’s AI-focused trades returned +112.1 percent excess over the S&P 500 from January 2024 through April 2026, far beating Nancy Pelosi’s +38.5 percent outperformance.
• 143% return on Nvidia shares bought via wife’s trust in Feb 2024, right before CHIPS Act helped double the stock
“Ro ‘the Robber’ Khanna seems to be the most active insider trader in Congress,” DOGE Designer commented.
“’Robber’ Khanna!” Musk responded.
