Elon Musk Is Staging A Takeover Of The Federal Budget

In nan first 2 weeks of Donald Trump’s presidency, Elon Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) personification reportedly gained entree to halfway parts of nan American government’s costs systems, including systems that effect Social Security and Medicare benefits — arsenic nationalist workers and authorities officials struggle to respond.

DOGE, an unofficial “department” which Trump declared information of nan US Digital Service, is purportedly tasked pinch cutting authorities waste. Musk has turned that ngo into a wide gutting of nationalist agencies, including offering nationalist workers months of paid time off billed arsenic “deferred resignation.” But things ramped up moreover overmuch complete nan weekend, arsenic Musk and his associates forced retired civilian servants who refused entree to delicate accusation and instrumentality systems.

The news started connected Friday pinch nan departure of a Treasury Department apical occupation official. David Lebryk announced his position aft clashing pinch Musk surrogates astir accessing a costs strategy that disburses trillions of dollars for nationalist worker salaries, Social Security, and Medicare, according to The Washington Post. On Saturday, The New York Times reported that Musk now has read-only entree to that system, giving him overmuch penetration and imaginable powerfulness complete authorities spending — and apt entree to your Social Security number.

Musk spent overmuch of nan play lashing retired astir purported “illegal payments” to charities and accusing, without evidence, occupation Treasury officials of “breaking nan norm each hr of each clip by approving payments that are fraudulent aliases do not lucifer nan backing laws passed by Congress.” (The department’s business is to facilitate immense numbers of payments vetted by different agencies.)

Career civilian servants astatine nan Office of Personnel Management soon recovered themselves locked retired of nan agency’s instrumentality strategy that maintains nationalist employees’ individual data, Reuters reported connected Sunday. Unnamed agency officials linked nan action to Musk’s aides.

OPM spokesperson McLaurine Pinover told The Verge that nan Reuters study was not accurate, but did not elaborate. Representatives for nan Treasury Department, US Digital Service, and nan US Agency for International Development did not instantly respond to requests for remark connected nan caller reporting.

It’s not wholly clear who nan alleged Musk proxies are, but Wired reports that astatine slightest respective of nan engineers aiding his authorities takeover are conscionable hardly retired of college.

Trump has made less comments connected Musk’s actions. Speaking pinch reporters connected nan tarmac of Joint Base Andrews connected Sunday, Fox News reports, nan president said Musk was “doing a bully job,” though he added that, “sometimes we won’t activity together pinch it and will not spell wherever he wants to go, but I deliberation he’s doing a awesome job. He’s a smart guy, very smart, and he’s very overmuch into cutting nan money of our nationalist government.”

Musk has railed successful peculiar against USAID, calling it a “criminal organization.” On Monday he said he and Trump sought to unopen down nan agency entirely, without addressing their ineligible authority to do so, NBC News reports. Several Democratic lawmakers said retired against Musk’s effort to upwind down nan agency, and said only Congress is tin to make specified a declaration, vowing to conflict nan attempted takeover and calling it a rule crisis. “Elon, if you want to tally AID, get nominated by Trump and spell to nan Senate, and bully luck successful getting confirmed,” says Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-VA).

Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT) said Musk’s business interests are astatine nan bosom of nan Trump administration’s motivations down nan changes. “Let’s not propulsion immoderate punches astir why this is happening,” Murphy says. “Elon Musk makes billions of dollars based disconnected of his business pinch China, and China is cheering astatine this action today. There is nary mobility that nan billionaire group trying to return complete our authorities correct now is doing it based connected self-interest.” Murphy adds that Musk’s actions correspond a “smoke screen” to “create nan illusion that they’re redeeming money” to locomotion a awesome patient taxation cut.

Musk is pursuing unprecedented entree to authorities systems while moving respective companies — including Tesla, SpaceX, and X — pinch vested interests successful different authorities policies and grudges against different backstage companies. Over nan weekend, X expanded its antitrust suit complete an advertiser boycott to spot Lego, Nestlé, and Pinterest.

Sens. Ron Wyden (D-OR) and Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) demanded answers from Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent connected Musk’s reported entree to nan Treasury payments system. And protests extracurricular nationalist buildings personification begun popping up, including 1 connected Sunday wherever DC Media Group reports protesters sought to artifact entree to OPM.

Even so, immoderate anonymous Reddit users who identified themselves arsenic authorities labor said they planned to support plugging distant overmuch aliases small arsenic usual. “I’m going to proceed to do my job,” 1 personification writes successful a thread astir really to grip nan situation. “Use your headphones and enactment unbothered,” says another. Another offers: “head down eyes and ears open.”