Trump Appoints Elon Musk to Head New Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE):-
When Donald Trump first announced that he would appoint the world’s richest man Elon Musk as head of a new Department of government efficiency or Doge there was an open question as to exactly how much power and influence musk would wield in Washington DC it could have been an arms length body tasked only with making recommendations to Congress on where to cut spending but it has turned out to be something very different at Trump’s pleasure musk and his team have placed themselves at the heart.
DOGE Created by Repurposing the U.S. Digital Service:-
The new Administration with almost unprecedented power gaining access to social systems Ting staff and even working to shutter entire agencies the upheaval musk is bringing has been likened to his takeover of Twitter only on a much larger scale and with a very different Beast the US government so in this video we’re going to take a look at what doge is what musk is doing .
A proper federal department that would need to be done by Congress instead Trump renamed and repurposed the already existing United States digital service which was created by Barack Obama Trump’s executive order tasked Doge with modernizing Federal technology and software to maximize governmental efficiency and productivity as for musk’s personal role he’s obviously not a senate confirmed department head and after much questioning by the press the White House clarified that musk was working as a special government employee he is not being paid for the role and the status allows individuals to serve up to 130 days though it’s unclear how long Trump envisions musk serving the designation may also allow musk to avoid having to publicly file Financial disclosures however special government employees are prohibited from participating in matters that may feature Financial conflicts of interest .
Musk’s Influence Over Federal Workforce and Agencies:-
So given the number and size of companies that the world’s richest man runs and his billions of dollars in federal contracts the potential for conflict of interest is huge Trump has insisted that musk will be kept away from such conflicts although the White House Press Secretary later effectively said that it’s musk’s own responsibility to recuse himself when facing a conflict of interest but what are musk and his young engineer staffers actually doing on the day Trump took office January the 20th musk’s team commanded the office of personal management or OPM which is effectively the human resources agency that manages the federal Workforce on January the 28th the OPM sent an email to some 2 million federal employees offering them a resignation package with a promise of pay through September though there were questions as to whether that funding can actually be guaranteed and unions have strongly opposed the offer this forms part of musk’s goal to slash the size of the federal Workforce and the Trump Administration is reportedly planning widespread layoffs.
Access to Sensitive Government Systems Raises Concerns:-
Soon leaving those who don’t accept the offer at risk others could be encouraged out by other means Russell V Trump’s pick to head the OPM said in a 2023 speech we want the bureaucrats to be traumatically affected when they wake up in the morning we want them to not want to go to work because they are increasingly viewed as the villains arguably the biggest event though was must gaining access to the treasury Department’s payment system which distributes more than $6 trillion do a year on behalf of federal agencies and contains the personal information of millions of Americans who receed Social Security Medicare tax refunds and other money from the government a top career official at the treasury reportedly tried to resist allowing Doge access to this system but suddenly retired last week and Trump’s treasury secretary Scott bessent granted musk’s team access musk also had is sight set on the US agency for International Development .
Musk’s Ideological Influence on Government Agencies:-
Us Aid contractors were placed on unpaid leave and some were terminated and musk who called the agency a criminal organization says Trump agreed with him that it should be shut down in a similar series of events as at the US Treasury two senior us Aid security officials attempted to stop Doge workers from Gaining physical access to restricted areas and both officials were subsequently put on administrative leave according to the New York Times musk and his team have made incursions into at least half a dozen government agencies in total .
Legal Challenges and Opposition to Musk’s Actions:-
So far including the general Services Administration which manages federal Offices around the country so why is musk taking such a fast and aggressive approach well his aim through doge is to cut 1 to 2 trillion doar from the nearly $7 trillion federal budget a Monumental if at all possible task getting access to Federal it infrastructure and to the treasury’s payment system effectively the government’s checkbook is therefore an obvious place to start Beyond cost cutting and despite treasury secretary Scott Besson saying that doge is running an operational not an ideological .
Musk’s Actions May Be Overstepping Legal Boundaries:-
Musk’s actions so far for example he has proposed the wholesale removal of regulations claimed that us Aid is a radical left’s political s up and vowed that Doge would halt Federal funding for some nonprofits involved in Refugee resettlement having without evidence declared that the payments were illegal mosque’s actions have been met with an outcry from democratic lawmakers unions and public interest groups with Democrats protesting and accusing him of acting illegally and mounting a hostile takeover of sensitive government systems the White House says that doge is working in compliance with federal law however lawsuits are challenging its actions and existence already a judge has delayed the deadline for federal employees to accept musk’s buyer offer after Union sued to block it a separate lawsuit alleges the treasury violated privacy laws by giving Doge full access to its payment system prompting the government to agree .
Congress Faces Challenges in Controlling Musk’s Influence:-
Only two Doge Affiliated treasury employees would maintain readon access while the case proceeds and lawsuits were immediately filed after Do’s creation challenging its uncertain legal status it’s worth pointing out that several of the things has been talking about are simply not within his legal power he nor Trump cannot unilaterally close us Aid only Congress can musk also cannot go line by line vetoing federal spending in effect taking away congress’s power of the purse but that might not stop him trying lawsuits aside it’s Congress that musk is in theory on a collision course with given that it’s congress’s Powers he is encroaching on but despite some limited questioning of musk’s authority by Republicans who control both ch ambers there’s little sign of any imminent congressional action Democrats were defeated in their attempt to subpoena musk to testify to the oversight committee and have introduced legislation to block Doge from taxpayers sensitive financial information but without some Republican support it won’t go anywhere.
Musk’s Continued Power and Upcoming Political Challenges:-
In the meantime musk looks like he has no intention of slowing down that’s not the end of this story though with 2025 already shaping up to be a rather busy year for news in fact there’s so much going on that we we don’t have time to cover it all just in America there’s everything from the question of whether Trump’s becoming an imperial president to America’s wild history of territorial expansion to questioning if the US is actually an oligarchy .