Can Anyone Stop President Musk?

Elon Musk has an uncanny expertise to benignant retired which of America’s rules are real. It turns retired reward from nan National Labor Relations Board isn’t real, reward from NASA isn’t real, and reward from nan FAA isn’t real. The Delaware Chancery Court is highly real. Based connected nan past 2 weeks, nan Delaware Chancery Court whitethorn beryllium nan only existent constituent successful nan afloat American government.

Here’s a speedy recap. While putative President Donald Trump was engaged alienating friends done tariffs and wasting h2o successful California — existent huffy king hours — Musk pushed retired nan caput of nan FAA. Then nan reports came accelerated and thick: Federal labour received a “fork successful nan road” email highly reminiscent of Musk’s Twitter ultimatum, encouraging them to resign, sent from an insecure server. A bunch of goons, immoderate of them existent teenagers, reportedly sewage entree to nan US Treasury systems. (Read-only, reportedly, for now.) Longtime civilian servants were locked retired of nan portion systems that, by nan way, location nan individual accusation for authorities employees. Musk’s lackeys are successful powerfulness of nan Office of Personnel Management and nan General Services Administration. They’ve gotten ahold of classified information, and are now shutting down nan US Agency for International Development (USAID). Musk said he “spent nan play feeding USAID into nan wood chipper.”

Did I get everything? Probably not. For instance, Musk has made statements that he “deleted” a department, for instance, but since he’s a known liar, that whitethorn not beryllium true. Between immoderate Musk is posting astir connected X, nan gait astatine which events are occurring, and nan wide upset among authorities employees, giving a afloat summation of events is impossible. Perhaps betwixt nan clip this is published and you publication it, location will beryllium overmuch bullshit.

Still, based connected nan events that personification transpired truthful far, it seems nan clear extremity coming amounts to a coup complete nan administrative state. My editor reminds maine that galore of you were not paying attraction successful civics group and so: our government’s famed checks and balances strategy relies connected Congress controlling spending. Musk’s business was primitively framed arsenic making recommendations for programs that Congress could cut.

The coming Trump administration, which too did not net attraction successful civics class, either doesn’t cognize aliases doesn’t attraction astir checks and balances. First, it tried to frost spending pinch a ineligible pronouncement. That was quickly halted by respective courts. Then Musk decided to bust into nan bureaucracy and commencement ripping retired wires — a method solution to a ineligible problem.

If I wanted to destruct populist successful nan US, I’m not judge what I would do differently.

Does that sound for illustration wide hysteria? Okay, here’s Brian Riedl, an economist who useful for nan blimpish Manhattan Institute, and earlier that, nan Heritage Foundation and Republican Senator Rob Portman: “I spot a batch of group want to propulsion retired 230 years of rule authorities and move it pinch an authoritarian dictator because they personification ample feelings astir nan money and can’t beryllium bothered to activity done Congress.”

At Musk’s functional companies — SpaceX and to immoderate degree, Tesla — he’s put successful a playpen wherever he can’t harm nan existent work. At Twitter, we saw what happened erstwhile location was nary padding betwixt him and nan company: he began switching things disconnected astatine random, firing engineers willy-nilly (and past trying to rehire them), and turning its gross into a elephantine bonfire. Now Musk has brought this strategy to nan nationalist government.

The astir contiguous consequences personification been borne by USAID, whose programs spot George W. Bush’s effort to attraction for HIV patients successful Africa — 1 that is reputed to personification saved 20 cardinal lives truthful far. The building lodging USAID has been shuttered. An email explaining nan move attributed it to “agency leadership,” and replies to nan email “should beryllium directed to an email reside that appears to beryllium associated pinch Gavin Kliger, whose LinkedIn level scheme identifies him arsenic a emblematic advisor to nan caput of nan Office of Personnel Management and who useful for DOGE,” according to The Wall Street Journal.

And Musk’s chaos is compounding different crises. Take nan 2 level crashes successful awesome cities past week — 1 successful DC and 1 successful Philadelphia. Days earlier, Musk had pushed retired nan caput of nan FAA, who had fined SpaceX for not getting its motorboat changes approved. The immense mostly of aerial postulation powerfulness accommodation are understaffed, truthful it does look weird that conscionable days earlier nan first crash, those who were connected portion had been offered buyouts. After nan 2nd crash, a connection went retired saying aerial postulation controllers were exempt from a hiring frost that took spot aft Trump took office.

Consider again nan Twitter playbook — because this is conscionable nan beginning. Let’s opportunity Musk gets nonstop entree to treasury payments, which seems very apt to beryllium his aim. Will he extremity paying bills, arsenic he did pinch Twitter’s leases? Might beryllium nosy to observe what nan taxable does erstwhile they don’t get their paychecks, aliases really galore grandparents get evicted erstwhile nan Social Security checks don’t spell out. How galore of Musk’s unsecured servers do you deliberation overseas spies personification penetrated already? All of them, maybe?

As for nan Treasury worldly — well, if I were a authorities contractor that wasn’t SpaceX, I’d beryllium nervous. I mean, if you upset Musk, do you deliberation he’s going to net retired your contracts connected time?

Does Musk personification nan authority to do this? Doesn’t matter. As we cognize from erstwhile Musk experience, nan existent mobility is: who will extremity him? So acold nan reply appears to beryllium nary one. The CIA, FBI, and NSA look to beryllium doing nothing. The US attorney’s agency successful DC is threatening individuals and groups who “appear to break nan norm successful targeting DOGE employees.” The Democratic connection is making powerfully worded statements and issuing letters of concern.

The stiffest guidance Musk is getting to his unconstitutional romp done nan psyche workings of nan American authorities is from nan workers themselves — immoderate done nationalist lawsuits and done a elemental refusal to do arsenic he asks. Some workers are too suing complete nan insecure server for nan “fork successful nan road” email. Two unions, nan AFL-CIO and nan SEIU, are suing nan Treasury and Scott Bessent “to halt Defendants’ unlawful ongoing, systematic, and continuous disclosure of individual and financial accusation contained successful Defendants’ records to Elon Musk.”

We are each expected to dress this is happening successful nan punishment of ratio and cost-savings, and not arsenic a measurement for Musk to prosecute his shitty individual feuds. How posting to X astatine each hours of nan clip is businesslike is simply a mobility I’m not judge anyone tin answer, but then, it’s benignant of 1 of nan overmuch insignificant questions successful this scenario. And erstwhile I opportunity “this scenario,” I mean that Elon Musk is going to do immoderate he wants, and position done it, and frighten anyone who tries to extremity him with, apparently, a US attorney.

Donald Trump, Musk’s wholly owned puppet, has said Musk won’t do point without his approval. Sure. Okay. I don’t spot what value that makes. We each retrieve “executive time,” don’t we? This man only wants to play and watch TV.

But don’t worry, there’s to beryllium a caller sovereign wealthiness fund, which seems for illustration a awesome spot for Musk and his Silicon Valley friends to siphon disconnected authorities money, money that is nary longer being utilized for wasteful purposes for illustration Meals connected Wheels aliases nan Head Start program. And Musk’s failing X could beryllium propped up by making it nan charismatic guidelines of authorities communications. Oh, and “regulations, basically, should beryllium default gone,” Musk said connected a midnight rant connected X. In this environment, The Onion’s header “Elon Musk Offers Self $10 Billion Federal Buyout” sounds overmuch for illustration a prediction than satire.

What’s bully for Musk isn’t bully for nan remainder of us. His factories are famously unsafe places to work. After he bought Twitter, he drove retired accusation professionals — making nan level overmuch susceptible to fraud. SpaceX has been busily polluting Texas. Throughout nan years he’s been very clear: he’s going to do immoderate he wants, immoderate nan consequences.

Now he’s bringing that sensibility to nan nationalist government. As agelong arsenic Musk doesn’t personification nan powerfulness to extremity payments, he hasn’t wholly succeeded. About 90-odd years aft nan original Business Plot — to overthrow President Franklin Roosevelt and instal a dictator — Musk appears to beryllium alternatively adjacent to finishing nan job. So here’s nan question: are location immoderate existent rules successful America, astatine all?