Trillionaire tech mogul and former head of the Department of Government Efficiency, Elon Musk, is threatening to file a lawsuit against Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA) after he accused Musk of “possibly” sentencing 4.5 million children to death by cutting federal funding to the U.S. Agency for International Development.
On June 22, 2026, Musk took to the social media platform he owns, X, and issued a vigorous response to Khanna for making the suggestion that Musk’s major cuts to USAID funding and workforce as part of DOGE in 2025, might have led to the deaths of millions of children. Khanna made the comments during an appearance on the “I’ve Had It” podcast.
“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,” Khanna stated during the episode. Musk held nothing back when he issued his own comments in response to Khanna’s accusation.
The Tesla CEO referred to the far-left congressman as a “liar” and “robber” while firing back an accusation that Khanna engaged in insider stock trading. “Time to sue this liar,” Musk wrote in his post. According to a report from The Independent, Musk, who oversaw DOGE, which was tasked with reducing the federal workforce and making massive cuts to wasteful government spending, has been consistent in his defense of the group’s work.
In his posts, Musk continued his defense of the cuts to USAID, saying they were the result of a new rule that required the agency to contact those receiving aid and confirm funds were being used legitimately. He then pointed to a Justice Department release that said one USAID employee, along with three contractors pleaded guilty to bribery and fraud.
“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!! 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.” Musk said. Khanna fired back at Musk’s attacks against him by citing a 2025 study that allegedly found that without resources from USAID, 14 million people in low-and-middle income countries could die by 2030, including over 4.5 million children under the age of five.
Advocates of the agency had issued a number of warnings over the years that there would be consequences to shutting it down. The agency was supposed to be involved in researching and providing medical solutions to global health issues like HIV/AIDS, malaria, polio, and many others. The agency also provided assistance in emergency disasters.
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Officials within the Trump administration, however, claim the agency was wasteful by spending loads of federal tax dollars on things such as a transgender opera in the country of Colombia and other initiatives. Musk and his DOGE team, having examined where the money was actually being spent, referred to USAID as a “criminal organization” and stated that it needed to “die.” USAID was effectively shut down by the administration in 2025.