At an open house in Fairbanks on Monday, Alaskan Congressman Nick Begich (R) told constituents that there was nothing he could do to stop agency budget cuts being implemented by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) and Elon Musk.

During the meeting, Begich was confronted by constituents laid off from federal jobs, a major source of employment for the state. "I was fired," one said. "Now I have no choice but to leave that community and probably leave Alaska, and so I just don't understand how these budget cuts are helpful to any Alaskans or their communities. And I'm just wondering what you plan to do about this."

Begich said he was "not in a position to approve or deny the cuts."

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It was a remarkable statement from the freshman Congressman, sworn into office in January. The Constitution vests the "power of the purse" with Congress — not an unelected billionaire appointed to a position in the executive branch.

Popular Information obtained the audio recordings of the town hall from a constituent who attended the meeting. The audio was provided on the condition of anonymity because the constituent is not a public figure.

The indiscriminate budget cuts could hit Alaska especially hard because the state has a high concentration of federal workers. There are about 15,000 federal employees in Alaska, and about 1,200 are "probationary," which generally means they have less than one year of service in their current position. If all probationary employees were fired, it would cost the state about $88 million in lost wages. Many federal workers are located in rural areas where there are few opportunities for alternative employment.

Alaskans cut from the National Park Service include "biologists, field technicians, logistics specialists, a superintendent, an archeologist and a pilot." Alaska is home to many Federal Aviation Administration employees, some of whom have lost their jobs. At least 30 Alaskans who work for the U.S. Forest Service, which plays a critical role in preventing wildfires, were also let go.

In another exchange, Begich said he found out about budget cuts impacting Alaska "on Twitter" and "had no idea these things were going on" in advance. Begich claimed that the same situation was true "under Biden," but did not provide any examples. He also did not mention that he was not a member of Congress during Biden's presidency.

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The notion that Begich has no information about DOGE's activities is notable since Begich is a member of the Congressional DOGE Caucus.

In lieu of taking action, another constituent asks Begich if he would "publicly commit to denouncing the cuts" that impact Alaska and "commit to saying this is wrong." Begich refused.

"I'm not going to denounce all cuts. We have to cut. We're 125% debt to GDP ratio as a nation," Begich said. But the federal workforce accounts for about 6% of the federal budget. House Republicans just advanced a budget projected to increase the deficit by $4 trillion over ten years.

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Instead, he told constituents who lost their jobs to "put together some materials for me" about their specific situation that he could review. "If there's something that I think we can do, then I will do it," Begich offered.

Begich's office did not respond to a request for comment.

Begich is a huge Musk fan

Begich told his constituents that he was concerned about the impact of Musk-directed cuts on Alaskans and wished he had more advance notice. But on X, he has repeatedly celebrated Musk's work with DOGE. On February 2, Begich praised DOGE's work ethic, saying the group had a "grindset."

On February 11, Begich suggested, without evidence, that DOGE had uncovered illegal activity in the federal government.

On Monday, the same day he met with his constituents in Fairbanks, Begich promoted Musk's false claim that millions of people over 100 years old were receiving Social Security benefits. The numbers in Musk's posts represented people in the Social Security database — not people who were receiving payments. And Social Security automatically suspends benefits for anyone with an age of 115 or older.

Although this claim has been repeatedly debunked, Begich has not corrected or removed his claim. In an interview with Alaska News Source, Begich called Musk "an efficiency expert."