Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, a Democrat from New York, produced a tip line for “brave public servants” who want to report on corruption from Trump administration officials.
The senior lawmaker shared a link to the tip line on Monday via social media, announcing that government employees who use the resource to “expose corruption, abuses of power, and threats to public safety” can potentially receive “the legal protections of being a whistleblower.”
The tip line asks for personal information such as first name, last name, phone number, and email address, and requests that employees categorize the conduct they report as retaliation, wasteful spending, fraud, or criminal activity. They are then asked to name the agency involved.
Schumer provoked mockery from Republicans and supporters of the Trump administration after posting the link. Elon Musk said that Democrats should “look into this Schumer guy, he’s definitely done crime,” while others referenced examples of wasteful government spending uncovered by the Department of Government Efficiency, the advisory service led by Musk.
The new tip line indeed comes as the Department of Government Efficiency scrutinizes transactions from federal agencies such as USAID and FEMA. Democrats have expressed concern that staffers for the government reform initiative do not have clearance to view the data.
Other commenters reported Schumer himself through the tip line, noting that he infamously threatened conservative members of the Supreme Court over their decisions on abortion.
