This story was originally published by the WND News Center.

By Matt Bailey, WorldNetDaily Washington correspondent

U.S. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer declared DOGE, the Department of Government Efficiency, a "shadow government" at a Monday news conference on Capitol Hill.

Schumer and others from the Democratic caucus had gathered the media to discuss the Elon Musk-helmed agency gaining access to the Treasury Department's payment system.

The five gathered Democrats – Sens. Schumer, Ron Wyden, Elizabeth Warren, Patty Murray, and Brian Schatz – argued DOGE had no authority to access the payment system. They claimed Musk had "illegally" accessed the system.

At one point, Sen. Warren claimed that DOGE had "raided" the Treasury to gain access to the system. As of this reporting, that is not accurate, and it appears Treasury Secretary Scott Bissent has cooperated with DOGE's efforts to access the Treasury.

The Democrats also argued President Donald Trump has no authority to interfere with congressionally approved funding.

Unfortunately for the senators, this is incorrect. In fact, the DOGE office is a reworking of an Obama-era agency known as the United States Digital Service. Just as with DOGE, the Digital Service was created unilaterally by the president.

What was on display today was a reaction to Trump doing exactly what he said he would do: cut the government down to size and get it to work for the American people. Elon Musk claims to have already found what he's calling "fraudulent" payments that Treasury officials were directed to hand out, no questions asked.

Donald Trump has created an agency whose sole job it is to look under the hood of government institutions. This has establishment bureaucrats on both sides of the aisle terrified, and for good reason.