Musk’s Ascendance
This should be unacceptable, yet here we are.

The unclear, unchecked, and unvetted power being given to Elon Musk should be of grave concern to us all. As James Joyner noted this morning, he has been given vast access to key systems in the US government. It is not outside of the realm of possibility at the moment that he and his team could create vast harm to millions of people who rely on direct payments from the federal government for their basic health and welfare.
Allowing an unelected and unaccountable individual this kind of power and access is improper and scary. He has not been Senate confirmed (although, granted, that isn’t a huge obstacle these days) nor has he really been vetted in any way. He is an informal advisor to the president. But the level of access he is being given is unprecedented and unnecessary.
I will confess, I initially thought that DOGE was a juvenile joke (kind of like naming an agency the Federal Assessment and Reform Taskforce) which would amount to no more than the typical blue ribbon commission that would make recommendations about fraud and waste. I hoped, at least, that it was just Trump throwing Musk a bone.
I never would have guessed that within two weeks Musk would have access to the Treasury’s payment system.
I would note that CNN is correct, We do not know what exactly Elon Musk is doing to the federal government, and that is highly, highly disturbing.
“This is the critical battle to restore power to the PEOPLE from the massive unelected bureaucracy!” he wrote on the social media platform he owns, pushing people to rally at events opposing the use of taxpayer dollars to fund NGOs, nonprofits unaffiliated with the government that are supposed to do good works.
But, of course, this is nonsense. The payment authorized by the bureaucracy were made by the elected representatives of the people in Congress. Musk, and DOGE, are the ones who are unelected and lack any kind of democratic accountability. Yes, they were given access by the elected president, but despite the rhetoric being spouted about mandates, winning the presidency does not legally entitle you to do whatever you want.
CNN lists some of the specific Musk associates now in positions of power in Washington.
OPM confirmed to me that Amanda Scales, who used to work for Musk’s AI company xAI, is now chief of staff at OPM. Brian Bjelde, whose Linkedin profile still lists him as a SpaceX employee, is now a senior director, and so is Anthony Armstrong, a banker who worked with Musk to take over Twitter.
The New York Times report included other Musk allies in positions at other agencies, including the General Services Administration, which oversees federal real estate. Despite encouraging workers to return to the office, Musk also sees getting rid of government real estate or leases, and dispersing remaining workers throughout the country, as a cost saving technique.
Musk’s Twitter feed shows him ranting about regulations, corruption, and spending. The target at the writing of this post is the National Endowment for Democracy, for reasons that are unclear to me.
And then there is stuff like this:
Look, I don’t know what Lutheran Family Services does, but just because there is a word in the title of the entity that Mike Flynn (known QAnon devotee) and Elon Musk don’t like doesn’t mean it is corrupt. The main hospitals in Montgomery, AL have “Baptist” in their name. Will DOGE shut down federal dollars going to those entities?
Do I have to state that Musk and DOGE have not legitimate right to determine which payments are legal and which are not?
This is madness.
I was concerned enough with Musk’s penchant for performing Nazi-inspired symbolism and Holocaust minimizing, but we are now ranging into new levels of alarm. But perhaps folks who minimize such things can see the need for concern.
Along the lines of some of what James noted in his post (especially the stuff from Henry Farrell) all of this sounds far too much like the kind of TechBros should lead us nonsense espoused by Curtis Yarvin and others of his ilk.
Indeed, to expand on Yarvin’s influence on all of this, note the following passage from a 2022 article in The Nation.
Yarvin’s present claim to fame is that GOP Senate hopefuls Blake Masters in Arizona and J.D. Vance in Ohio have both favorably cited a key plank of his plan for post-democratic overhaul—the strongman plan to “retire all government employees,” which goes by the jaunty mnemonic “RAGE.” As Yarvin envisions it, RAGE is the great purge of the old operating system that clears the path for a more enlightened race of technocrats to seize power and launch the social order on its rational course toward information-driven self-realization. Collateral casualties in this “reboot” will be the nexus of pusillanimous yet all-powerful institutions Yarvin has dubbed “the Cathedral”—the universities, the elite media, and anything else that’s fallen prey to liberal perfidy as the heroic apostles of hard-right digital truth-telling have come wearily to know it.
This sounds painfully real at the moment.
I would also note this from The Verge:
There’s a tendency to not take people like Yarvin seriously. He and other far-right bloggers like Bronze Age Pervert position themselves as provocateurs and couch their work in absurd metaphors — it sounds inherently ridiculous to issue warnings about a guy who writes long essays about dark elves. And if you do take them seriously, they’ll say they were just trolling. But if you look past his edgelord posture and baroque prose, Yarvin has spent the better part of a decade clearly describing what he wants: a dictatorship.
This, also, sounds painfully real. The piece notes Yarvin’s associate with Peter Thiel and the now Vice President of the United States. It seems like not all that long ago there was dismissal about worrying about Vance’s Twitter feed, and yet here we are. I would recommend the piece in full as it notes connectivity between Yarvin’s views, Kevin Roberts at Heritage/Project 2025, and Vance.
Musk stands at a confluence of two very dangerous self-images. He is of the whole TechBro ilk who think that they understand the world better than the rest of us muggles, and therefore ought to be allowed to rule us. He is also a billionaire, a group of people who very easily buy their own press their vast wealth confirms their general superiority.
And now he is being given access to what money the federal government spends, and on whom.
I would love for all of this to be a fever dream, but we are headed some some serious man-made disasters in the coming days, weeks, and months. The only questions are going to be: how many people get hurt, and how badly?
Some other bits and pieces that didn’t fit in above.
I had mentioned this in my post on the California water situation, but who can possibly justify DOGE being involved here? What in the world does DOGE have to do with/know about water management in California?
DOGE just showing up and causing havoc certainly feels a lot more like an authoritarian extralegal strike teams than it does an orderly, legal process to reform government, now doesn’t it?
I saw a BlueSky tweet (what are we supposed to call them? Bleets?) that said Lutheran Family Services is one of the biggest employers in South Dakota, and owns and operates seniors homes and other facilities in those states. According to their website:
“Lutheran Social Services of South Dakota responds to changing needs in South Dakota communities. Our mission: Inspired by God’s love, we care for, support and strengthen individuals, families and communities. LSS touches the lives of South Dakotans 27,759 times each year with a variety of programs and services statewide. LSS is one of the largest private non-profit human service agencies in South Dakota. LSS serves people of all ages, faiths, races and economic status with professional, confidential and affordable services.” (Source: https://lsssd.org/who-we-are/who-we-are.html )
So maybe Flynn will regret spewing his ignorance once LSS supporters start confronting their GOP reps on the street and demanding answers.
Also: South Dakota? Hmm. Isn’t that Kristi Noem’s state? Why yes, I believe it is!
There will be all sorts of Trojan Horses squirrelled away, hidden from view, hidden bombs that will detonate way in the future. This is seriously verkakte.
(Assuming these gonifs are smart/competent enough to create backdoors etc).
@Not the IT Dept.:
Skeets is what I have seen.
Where some see problems, I see opportunity.
If Lutheran Services starts shutting down in the plains states we should flood the zone with the message that this is Trump-Musk. Billboards, radio ads, social media, and not subtle, either. “Under Biden and the Democrats you had XYZ, now, under Trump-Musk – or is it really Musk-Trump? – you’ve lost those services, services you and your loved ones relied on. And BTW, Musk just banked another billion dollars.”
Here’s an ad. On: a collection of Trump merch. VO: You bought the hat. You bought the NFT which turned out to be worthless. You bought the printed in China Bible. You bought the gold sneakers and the playing cards. And all it cost you was hundreds of dollars and the free help you used to get for your aging parent. And by the way, the cost of eggs is still going up while billionaires buy their second and third yachts.”
@Michael Reynolds: I expect we will see such ads. I expect there to be an electoral backlash in 2026 (and yes, I still think there will be elections in 2026).
The problem is: how much damage will have been done before we get there? And even if Congress goes Dem, Trump will remain in charge of the executive branch.
More worrisome than any specific policy is that he is quote-posting Michael Fucking Flynn, a complete lunatic.
I thought QAnon was something Republicans were just using, not that they would actually be basing anything on that.
Gosh. Seems like promoting permitting people to perform blandly illegal acts would be an impeachable offense for a President…. Eight years ago.
So, if these DOGE activists are going to give the boot to religious organizations like the Lutheran Church’s social services, let’s make the break completely from our government’s subsidy of religions, across the board.
No playing favorites.
End ALL school vouchers for any religion affiliated school. (In fact, end all private school vouchers).
Tax religious property. Tighten up taxation framework on religion cash flows. The materialism and profligacy of big box religion screams “tax dodge.”
Bet we could scare up a chunk taxpayer revenue, with less widespread economic impact than tariffs.
To repeat what I said the other day: There is the Party (DOGE), and there is the State.
@Steven L. Taylor:
I wish I were confident of that. So far I’m seeing more effective media from The Lincoln Project which is ex-Republicans. Democrats posture and complain, Republicans fight. Looking through the commentariat here, are you seeing much fight? I’m seeing a lot of self-soothing and denial. Granted it’s only been two weeks, but when the enemy is doing Blitzkrieg, the counterattack needs to pick up speed. A lot. Blitzkrieg is inherently vulnerable to spoiling and flanking attacks. President Mump is handing us fantastic opportunities.
@Rob1:
Thank you, exactly. I’ve said for years now that we should be going after the home of the enemy, White Evangelical churches. Churches that become political are legitimate targets. Enough of this squeamish deference, when you get punched you punch back at the guy who threw the first punch.
@Michael Reynolds: Need a more pithy tagline, but yeah, this needs to be front-and-center the approach.
Trump’s face on a billboard, Musk as his puppeteer. Musk comic book quote: “I stopped your Social Security check this month!” Trump: “He paid me to let him!”
Trump giving his stupid-ass thumbs-up: “I’m a billionaire, and I’m raising your bills!” Price of Eggs. (Soon this will work with the price of a lot of things…maybe you make the billboard adjustable, so that week-to-week you can show the exploding prices of various goods. Eggs, TP, oil, …lots of things that people buy and generally know the price of!)
Musk giving the Nazi salute in Trump’s direction, Trump wearing orange: “Day 1: Released 1500 of his felon friends. Day 2: Handed over government to unelected racist billionaire government contractor. Day 10: Ended disaster relief in your community.”
Just make the association of Trump with everything negative. Highlight the destruction and cronyism. Zero quarter given. Make it so he can’t go anywhere without being seen for what he is.
@ptfe:
Ooh, excellent stuff. Are you in advertising?
Let me be clear that I think even flooding the zone with ads is not going to be very helpful near-term. Trump is causing damage because he’s a petty criminal, a tiny dictator wannabe. If he thinks the spotlight is moving off him, if he thinks his influence is dying, he’ll find new and more terrible ways to take over the media moment.
The key is to hit where people are. Geographically targeted ads can be run by anyone, on a variety of platforms (YouTube ads hit quick). I don’t listen to Joe Rogan, but I’ll bet ads on his pod are not read by Rogan himself. Make the spots short and simple: 5 seconds that make a terrible name association and rhyme Trump with shadow government and the Deep State. Prep for it: SEO websites so if you search for “Trump” and “Deep State” you get only conspiracies that show Trump is a Deep State operative bent on destruction of the US economy to service the billionaire class. (It would not be hard, since…I mean…)
Part of the Left’s problem is the inability to engage the Right in the quarters where it holes up. Another part is the failure to adopt the Right’s tactic of stealing meaningless terminology and turning it upside-down.
The only part I can’t figure out is how to get enough cash to make the “Other” the billionaire class.
@Michael Reynolds: Nope, but I’ve been thinking a lot about this for the last week. We’re all prone to getting jingles in our head, and we’re also prone to adopting language that even we don’t like if we hear it enough. That language can attach to people too – it’s why Trump always repeated “Crooked Joe Biden”, so much that even people with no real negative association with him will briefly think of it.
Trump has never had this attached to him. Democrats suck at messaging, yeah, but they also suck at going on the offensive, at painting the other side in a stark, memorable light. If every Dem called Trump “Convict Trump” and stopped calling him “President Trump”, the Right would be up in arms about how they just keep calling him “Convict Trump” instead of President. But they couldn’t report on it without repeating it. Dems could continue to repeat it even when the Right throws a toddler tantrum, and the more the Right complains, the more it becomes part of the association.
Snippet advertising does this too. Insurance companies get it. Someone says “caveman” or “emu” and you instantly have an association. There’s no reason that can’t be applied negatively to a guy like Trump, who leaves a trail of garbage behind him so deep that you only have to highlight a few of the messier pieces.
@Steven L. Taylor:
How quaint. We will see.
@ptfe:
Not so long ago Trumpsters put stickers (without permission) on gas pumps that pointed to the price and read, “Thanks Joe”
Are Dems too good to follow replicate?
@Bobert:
Those kind of gestures don’t change people’s minds, they just speak to the like minded. No, what matters now is legal and political trench warfare.
How anyone could look at that photo and claim to NOT know Musk is giving the Nazi salute is beyond me.
@ptfe:
Yes, they do. But their messages are more complex than “Benghazi! Woke! Her emails!”
Plus the GOP has more money and more media platforms at its disposal.
“Mandatory sex change! ” can go around the world “x” times before a Democrat can get out an entire paragraph criticism of tariffs and how they punish the working class person.
We’re dealing with human limitations here. We’re not all on the same page. Never were.
@Bobert:
Trump “I Did That” stickers are already being hawked on TikTok. And I presume elsewhere.
@ptfe:
We’re not allowed use such Trump nicknames here on this site because something something civility something something cheapens the discourse.
This the namby-pamby mind of the average Democratic-voting establishment. If you think Democrats have messaging problems, start with that mindset (although “messaging” is most just a pat, unspecific fallback platitude meaning nothing).
My personal experience with Lutheran Social Services was when my wife and I adopted “hard to place” children that were wards of various states. Children that were in foster care (paid for by the state) or Children’s Homes (again paid for by the state).
LSS taught parenting classes, prepared couples to engage in that adventure, paid all the legal fees, provided continuing legal services, showed us notebooks and notebooks of children all over the country who for any variety of reasons were “in the system” for years but could not find a “forever home”. Many were siblings that should not be torn apart, many had significant medical issues that the biological parents couldn’t handle so they were abandoned.
While I’m sure that LSS received some subsidy, much of the cost to run this program was borne by donors to the Lutherans. In the end, we had no financial obligation to LSS or anyone else, just an obligation to care for the children and help them feel wanted and special.
My experience with Catholic Charities, particularly in NOLA after Katrina and then at the Mexican border reflect the diligent efforts of those religious communities to provide service to those in need.
Say what you will about “organized religion”, (and I certainly have my objections/ bitches), these congregations of ordinary citizens are generally devoted to serving their neighbors.
@Bobert:
Additionally, the reason these charities get the funding is ironically to help keep the federal government small. They are essentially contractors.
@Michael Reynolds:
They didn’t buy it for the intrinsic or speculative value. They aren’t into that kind of “math” or they wouldn’t have voted for Trump in the first place. Rather, they “invest” in Trump for their resonance with his animus towards all things that do not comport to a very narrow, sentimental, (and yes,) bigoted view of the world, standing amidst a culture that has been a vortex of disorienting change for decades now.
But, real pain can lead to behavioral change. We’re about to see how touching a hot stove twice bears out. In crises, people either come together to solve their shared problems, or they set upon each other. Within that uncertain proposition lies our possibility of salvation.
Don’t miss Musk’s actors in the payments debacle. Some are just out of high school!
https://www.wired.com/story/elon-musk-government-young-engineers/
@Rob1:
granted such messaging may not change minds of the firmly entrenched. But for those voters that aren’t into politics or legal battles (as I believe that 80% are), it’s just a subtle reminder that Trump’s promises are BS.
@Bobert:
In truth, religions make many positive and morally authentic contributions to our society. And so their failings seem even more flagrant when exposed. But after all, humans embody both characteristics, and religions cannot escape our nature.
@ptfe:
I think the argument that it’s about The Messaging took a big hit in the 2024 general. Both parties had messages that were quite clear and presented a very stark set of choices. It’s just that too many of the underinformed people of the middle believed Trump’s Unrealistic promises of simple solutions and didn’t believe the portrait Harris painted of Trump as a fascist threat to our freedom.
So, I’m a big fan of this idea to lay everything that is bad on Trump and his GOP Enablers with no quarter given. I also think it is important to focus the finger pointing on GOP congresspeople where the Trumpists live. Make Trump a liability with the mob.
But, I would add to the simple “Trump did this” chorus another simple idea “We told you so.” People will initially get defensive about this, but to have their votes in the end they are going to have to come to the idea that their mistake wasn’t voting for Trump, but believing him.
A friend of mine in the VA/MD area says that they have been helping to settle Iraqis and Afghanistan families who had helped US forces.
It’s alarming that all Trump had to do was basically throw Musk the keys to everything. No checks. No balances. No background checks. No confirmation process. No top level security clearance. Nothing. Nothing at all.
@James R Ehrler:
Most all appear to be A.I. devotees. At least one had a Thiel internship.
I believe Dutchgirl was asking about who these people are, and that we should know names.
Ask, and WIRED provides:
The Young, Inexperienced Engineers Aiding Elon Musk’s Government Takeover
Ages 19 to 24, zero government experience, and at least one of them reportedly still in college.
We are so screwed.
ETA: Sorry! Just saw that James R Ehrler posted this link already.
This is going to be a clusterf*ck of epic proportions. These are teenagers who do not know the law, or reasons behind why these systems are so locked down.
Spies the world over absolutely are going to be hitting these systems looking for ways in, and these clowns are basically leaving the front door unlocked.
Does Andy still think this falls under “stuff the President is allowed to do”?
I wish Michelle Bachmann was still a high government official. She always had a copy of the Constitution with her. Musk’s extraordinary actions are clearly outside the scope of the Constitution, and I am sure that she and other conservatives would be leading the opposition to these actions.
I’m seriously wonder how soon we’ll see prediction betting markets open bids for a coup in the US before the end of the year.
@Scott F.: “Bush lied, people died” – I remember that from the sweet old days when all we did was start wars with Iraq over daddy issues.
A big part of this is whether people feel like you’re laying blame on them (which will make them defensive) or you’re validating them (which can drag them across). “Trump’s lying so your neighbor’s dying” might be more square with the current crowd. Or “Trump never wanted to fix it”. (There’s always “Trump’s rapey, no-one’s safey”.)
I have to believe that there are a ton of back-channel discussions going on–I just cannot fathom that US CEOs/Chamber of Commerce types believe that a trade war with Mexico and Canada, and a bunch of teenagers running around the most sensitive payment systems is what they signed up for. The real concern is, is it even possible to put the genie back in the bottle? Musk’s Minions have almost certainly set things up so they retain access and control.
This is…really, really bad.
Serious question. If Musk and his “boys” are unilaterally deciding what $ should be spent on and what programs (ignoring congressional appropriations), is it time for Blue States to say that these funds are not being properly protected and, until they are, we are not sending further $ to DC?
I mean if a friend asked for money to help him pay his rent and I gave it to him, but his teenage son blew the $$ on illegal activities, I wouldn’t give him more $$ until I knew he was taking care that the funds were spent as we agreed.
I think I see how the Lutheran Social Services thing is intended. It is a threat. It is intimidation. It doesn’t have to be legal. It goes like this:
“You see that we can turn off your payments at a moment’s notice. We have our fingers on the button. We will just call them illegal and turn them off. Go ahead and sue us to get them turned back on. It will take months, maybe years. And cost you a bundle.”
“Wouldn’t it have been much easier to keep your mouth shut and play ball?”
That’s how I think this is meant.
I was unaware that Trump, and not bird flu, was responsible for rising egg prices. Apparently many of you know better. Quick work by Trump, though.
With this level of rank partisanship, uh, analysis by OTBrs here how could anyone take you seriously?
@ptfe:
Exactly. It is hard to get people to admit they were fooled. But people are all too ready to believe they were betrayed.
@Connor: It was Trump himself who said he’d bring down egg prices on day one…
@Connor:
I was unaware that Biden, and not supply chain interruptions caused by COVID, was responsible for inflation during his term. Apparently you know better.
@Connor: Many, if not all of us, were aware bird flu was driving up the price of eggs WELL BEFORE THE ELECTION.
Trump lied about that like he does everything else, blaming Biden.
Also, this thread is about how he’s handed over sensitive systems to an unelected and unaccountable billionaire, who has tasked a handful of teenagers to manage things. Perhaps stay on topic?
@Connor:
The CDC and the FDA are currently forbidden from making any public statements. This would include guidance on containing bird flu outbreaks (from chicken farms to housecats… nothing), product testing and recall.
This actually has an immediate impact of making futures markets skittish, which raises prices.
@James R Ehrler: how do you think funds get sent from Blue States to the Federal Government?
It’s payroll taxes, etc. it’s not the states taxing citizens and passing on the money.
@DK:
God forbid James should want a particular tone at the site.
Do you think there are a lot of OTB lurkers out there who voted for Trump but will change their minds if OTB commenters go nuts with the nicknames in the comment section?
@Connor:
Oh, please. You Trumpist fools blamed Biden for inflation even though inflation was worldwide and directly attributable to the economic upheaval and aftermath of the COVID pandemic, and which Biden’s administration actually brought down faster and farther than any other advanced economy, with a bonus of the recession that nearly always accompanies such a precipitous drop in inflation never actually happening. So please miss me with this bullshit.
Also, Trump’s direct action to ban any public health messaging from the federal agencies that exist to do such messaging means chicken farmers have no idea how bad the bird flu pandemic among chickens is getting, so they will–as any rational actor would–raise prices immediately to avoid getting slammed if the disease ends up being as bad as it could be, which is also something Trump’s direct actions make far more possible.
@ptfe:
Bingo. Programming the negative association. Newt Gingrich was all about this.
@Slugger:
I’m not so sure. Remember the conservatives’ rigid criticism of “situational ethics?” But these people have shown a great deal of flexibility with their “situational” application of the Constitution and the Bible.
It never was about imposing “ethical standards.” It was always about the pursuit of power with these people.
The human brain is a wiley marvel of self delusion.
@Jay L Gischer:
A “protection racket.” Something someone with Trump’s background would understand well.
@Connor:
I think you are telling on yourself in terms of your media diet. We all understood that the avian flu was a contributor to the egg price issue back when Trump and the right-wing media machine was blaming it all on Biden. We understood the market then and now.
The only reason anyone brings up egg prices is because it demonstrates that Trump and his allies were consciously lying when they pretended like they could bring down prices.
And the trade war will objectively increase prices for a host of items. I assume that you are in favor?
BTW: this post is about how an unelected individual is acting in very dangerous ways with the federal government and you want to make it about eggs?
You are truly unserious.
@Jen:
The obscenity in all this is exactly as you point out: their “youthful ignorance” —– but this extends to people like Trump, Musk, Thiel, Yarvin et. al, who show absolutely no appreciation, or empathy, for all the pain their misguided pseudo-intellectual adventurism will bring down upon people least endowed with the resources to cope with big time adversity; people whose lives are already lived on the margins.
And this is what the Trump “Christians” voted for, whether they acknowledge it or not.
@Connor:
Bird flu was around before Jan. 20. Didn’t stop y’all from blaming Biden, did it?
Don’t like the taste of your own medicine, huh? Lol
@Rob1: Are you telling me that GOP politicians talking about the sacred Constitution, or balanced budgets, or term limits, or a lot of stuff are just blowing smoke? Say it aint so.
@James R Ehrler:
@Gustopher:
Don’t know how it works in the US. In Mexico, your employer withholds income tax from your salary, then pays it to the government. So for that kind of tax revolt, it would be companies who’d have to take the initiative and not pay these taxes. Also, I presume, other federal taxes the company owes on its income (and there are others, but the US does not have a national VAT or sales tax).
That would be hard to coordinate, and I don’t think a state government can forbid private companies form paying federal taxes.
Not that the last matters, as the tinpot tyranny is already actin illegally. But they could go witht he insurrection act and such, and that’s how revolutions can get started.
@Connor: Lol, the reality switch doesnt get flipped back just because your guys is office. It was a cute little game while it lasted for Republicans.
There’s a boil on the ass of a widow in Wisconsin–AND ITS ALL TRUMP’S FAULT!
I have been super busy and have not had time to comment, much less read all the posts and comments over the past week. I just have a couple of quick (for me) thoughts.
First, I hope everyone here has taken the time to contact their various representatives at all levels of government to let them know what you want. It has never ceased to amaze me the number of people who spend tons of time online debating politics but can’t seem to make that minimal effort. Don’t be that person. Part of the institutions and norms that need defending is citizens’ active participation in the political process. And some may not like to hear it, but commenting on blogs is pretty worthless in that regard.
Secondly, from my perspective, it’s good to see that so many people are finally starting to see the level of de facto (and often de jure) latent power and authority of the Executive and are expressing concern about it. For example:
All true, except Musk is accountable to Trump, so he’s not unaccountable. The fact that Musk is unelected, not confirmed by the Senate, and his access is unprecedented and unnecessary does not mean that Trump doesn’t have the power to delegate to Musk. As far as we can tell, Musk is not doing anything that Trump doesn’t want him to do, and Trump is in charge of the Executive branch. What’s the phrase, elections have consequences? Beyond lawsuits or Congressional action, there isn’t much that can be done. Hence why, I and so many others have been warning about the growth of Executive power for so long.
Third, look at the bright side. If Trump continues on this path, he’s destroying whatever “mandate” he believes he has, public opinion will turn against him (it already is), opposition will galvanize, organize, and centralize (it already is), all of which will end up destroying his brand and his efforts in time. Particularly with the tariffs, the economic disruptions and effects (potentially extremely bad, should they not be quickly rolled back), will be significant and negative, and the blame will fall entirely on Trump. There’s an old saying to not get in the way when your opponent is making a mistake, which applies here. The strategy, IMO, should be to actively oppose Trump’s authoritarian grabs while letting him hoist himself on his own petard when it comes to bad policy.
Finally, “democracy” is not ending. There will be elections in two years and again in four. It’s two weeks in, and I am already willing to bet a non-trivial sum the GoP will get crushed in the mid-terms. Things will get worse before they get better, but I think the Trump admin will quickly find itself as the dog that caught the car. We still have federalism and state governments that, thankfully, have significant independent power and authority – by design. Those here in the comments who have previously wished to end the independence of state and local government – I won’t name names – I hope are reconsidering your previous position. Despite the growth in the power of the Executive, there are still some hard limits. The founders got some things wrong and didn’t understand how things would develop over over two centuries, nor could they predict the sclerosis that would prevent reforms, but one thing they understood was tyranny. The aspects of our system that many have complained about for years were designed to guard against tyranny, and they are weakened in some areas but are still largely in place.
That’s not to downplay what’s happening. As previously noted, the Executive branch’s de facto power is very real. Opposing many of Trump’s aims and worse impulses will require a lot of work and effort. Even then, there will be chaos and disruption and hugely negative effects on many people’s lives.
I’ll just close by again, asking people to at least do the minimum and contact all your representatives, even if they are Democrats or at the state and local level. They need to hear directly what you think and what you want – chances are, they are not reading this blog.
@Andy:
That is a meaningless distinction given Trump’s various issues so he is effectively de facto unaccountable.
Very bad idea in this particular case.
Failure to oppose equates to tacit acceptance.
@Andy:
On the one hand, I get the point.
On the other, I think that things like giving DOGE access to the Treasury payment system are an example of abuse of power. The fact that the Treasury pays out what Congress has told it to pay is not an example of too much executive power.
Your point is better served by the tariffs.
@charontwo:
Musk didn’t just walk in on his own recognizance. He is and can do what he’s doing solely because he’s been specifically empowered by the President. His authority flows from the President’s authority. He is accountable to the President – Trump could revoke that authority at any time. This isn’t a trivial point, much less a meaningless distinction.
Blind opposition for opposition’s sake that ends up benefitting Trump is dumb. Don’t interrupt an opponent and especially save them from their bad decisions when they are making a mistake.
If you try to oppose everything, all the time, you end up opposing nothing. Strategy is about focusing efforts on real and specific vulnerabilities or defending the most important things on your side, not flailing around at everything that pops up. This is especially true when it’s clear that Trump is using a “flood the zone” strategy. That’s one of the lessons that should have been learned from the first Trump term.
@Andy: BTW, I have never disagreed with the issues you are identifying and think Congress has, over the years, made a number of profound errors.
Still, while I agree that stocking up on matches and gasoline may not have been the wisest move, you come across as blaming the matchsticks more than you blame the arsonist who is using these tools not to build a fire to warm us but instead setting fires that no responsible person would dream of setting.
@Steven L. Taylor:
It may be an abuse of power in a normative sense, but I’m talking about what the Executive branch can actually do. Surely you understand that Trump doesn’t give a rat’s ass about hand-wavy claims of “abuse of power,” a term that is subjective and not directly relevant to the actual authorities of the office or what is legal or adjudicable.
In short, it doesn’t look like it is illegal to hand Musk de facto control of the Treasury payment system (we’ll see how attempts to stop it work out). Instead, the main arguments from legal scholars I’ve read revolve around how imprudent that is (no argument there) and what Musk might or might not do with control of that system. As previously noted, the Executive branch has discretion on spending money in some area and not in others – much will depend on what actually gets changed and various procedural issues that will be highly litigated.
This all does implicate the “too much Executive” power argument, because every President has pushed the boundaries on Executive control of spending with mixed success. I suspect there is about to be a big partisan switcheroo when it comes to the nondelegation and major questions doctrines that liberals have historically opposed and conservatives have historically supported.
@Steven L. Taylor: I concur. I feel like nobody is listening even though multiple fire alarms have been pulled.
@Connor:
Sorry, no — you can’t both hold that inflation under Biden was Biden’s fault, but inflation under Trump is not Trump’s fault. Especially when Trump has flagrantly failed to even acknowledge the reality of bird flu, much less do anything about it.
Either Presidents control inflation, or they don’t. If they don’t, Trump is the stupidest vote in history. If they do, Trump is the stupidest vote in history.
@Steven L. Taylor:
Well, I see it a bit differently. It would be different if I hadn’t seen this creeping normalcy and ratcheting early and got on my soapbox about it.
This isn’t about blaming matchsticks – that’s a bad analogy – it’s about normalizing the lighting of matches when it’s expedient and politically convenient and then insisting it cannot possibly have future bad consequences. People have been dismissing me on that score for a very long time (typically only when their side does it), and now, suddenly, I’m the problem for having the temerity to point out that this was bad. It’s like an argument that we shouldn’t talk about the failures and mistakes that led to 9/11; we should only discuss how bad the baddie terrorists are. Well, we can do both, and we need to do both if we are going to learn from our mistakes.
I’d also mention that my comments here are not only about that one point. I’m a practical person and a realist who tries to look at and analyze things in terms of effectiveness and practicality. There’s a reason I have one of the pragmatists as my avatar. Most of my first comment is about that – things people can do and strategies I think would be effective in stopping and limiting the damage of the toddler who got the matches.
@Andy: For what it’s worth, I have been contacting my local representatives, and state representatives, and my Congressional representatives. The responses so far have either been non-existent, or more along the lines of “Haha, your side lost, loser, now you get to deal with it.”
Wyoming has some really terrible bills going down in the state legislature, the Freedom Caucus is fully in charge and prepared to blow up our state education budget. They are just a small example of what’s going down now that Trump is back.
How else am I supposed to get their attention?
@Andy:
Naive. Completely naive. See Hungary for how this ends.
What will you say then?
On “creeping normalcy”–the country has grown, quite a bit, since the founding.
We spend a lot of time and energy complaining about inefficiencies in the governing process. Shifting power as the nation has grown is as much about being efficient as anything.
Congress has had a fixed number of 435 representatives since 1929. The population of the US at that point was ~121,700,000. Current population is ~334,900,000. Their workload (people represented) has gone up exponentially. Of course responsibilities will shift, and shifting some to the executive branch is a natural outcome of that.
This isn’t really even about that though. It’s about how weak, ultimately, our system of governing is when people decide to elect a dumb president with poor moral character who doesn’t really care at all about the country or the people he is supposed to serve.
Keyboard warring (via online complaining) ain’t gonna win this fight against freedom, as all the keystrokes are going into the mega billionaires’ hive mind. WAKE UP!
@Andy:
Like I said–there are areas in which you have a point. Again, the tariffs.
The behavior with Musk is different. Allowing some made up “department” to run around and open up dams, access personnel files, spending systems, and shutting down USAID is lawless. The problem is the the law is not self-executing and does assume a certain level of compliance.
It is illegal to rob a store, but having a law in place is not a force field that stops the store from being robbed. The law brings, hopefully, consequences, but it does not forestall bad acts.
@Jax:
I take it you’re in Wyoming? If so, then that’s a tough situation given the overall politics of that state.
If you have some funds, one thing that can be done is donate to relevant advocacy groups and especially the organizations that will be actively waging the various legal fights, both defending people who have been subjected to illegal/unfair treatment by the Trump administration, as well as offense in directly challenging some of the things he is doing.
I’m also a believer in the “circle of influence” view of effective action, so in addition to the above, I spend a lot of time doing and supporting various things in my local community. While not directly opposed to what Trump is doing, building from the ground up is essential. I’ve long been a strong proponent of federalism, and that requires investing actual effort in state and local politics and civics.
Also, on a personal level, I have many friends who are federal contractors and civil servants. I’ve been supporting them as friends and colleagues and urging them not to give up, not to accept the probably bogus “resign” mass email offer, and to fight for their legal rights.
@EddieInDR:
I’m not a doomer. I see from the DR in your handle that you’ve moved some where else?
I think the thing that most differentiates me from you and many others here is that I have a lot more faith in the resiliency of the US as a whole and our system. If it’s really the case that electing one bad President is going to end everything, then we were fucked long ago, and all the points I’ve been making about the increased ratcheting of Executive power are even more true than I’ve been arguing and those disagreeing with me on that are even more wrong.
I do admit I could ultimately be wrong, but the US has faced worse crises and survived.
@Steven L. Taylor:
Ok, you say it’s lawless, and from a normative perspective, I completely agree. But is it actually lawless from a legal or Constitutional perspective – meaning does Trump not actually have the authority to do what he’s doing through Musk? Asserting that it is actually lawless does not make it true, or maybe it is in some technocratic sense. But the lack of action in opposing this and the arguments I read that state it’s bad but offer no legal remedy to attempt to stop it suggests that no one can explain how it’s illegal much less how to stop it. And let’s say Musk was vetted and got some kind of Senate confirmation. Would it all be kosher then? I don’t think so, but the reality, in my view, is about not what should be, but what IS, and what IS, IMO, is that the Executive branch has a lot more authority to generate chaos that people (even me) assumed and that’s a reality we have to deal with.
@Andy:
I know of not statutory authority for Musk to be going what he is doing at Treasury nor at USAID, for example.
Do you?
I don’t think “authority” is the right word in that sentence in terms of everything that has been done. In some instances, yes. In others, no.
@Steven L. Taylor:
I don’t, but from the other direction, I don’t know of statutory authority that prevents the President from giving Musk this authority either. This is especially true with USAID, which is technically subordinate to the State Department and is required to align its policies with presidential foreign policy directives.
When/if Musk starts canceling payments, the Impoundment Control Act will probably come into play, but historically, Presidents can unilaterally prioritize or de-prioritize aid to certain countries or activities based on foreign policy objectives. In short, the President has a lot of discretion here.
I’m not sure what other word to use. The Executive branch and the President have certain powers and authorities inherent to the office. As long as something is not unconstitutional or specifically prohibited by statute (which Presidents often tactically ignore as impinging on their Article 2 authority), a President has a lot of actual discretion, including delegating responsibility. And this is especially the case for a foreign policy agency.
But I’m not an expert on this. It seems quite likely that the President is or will overstep actual legal and Constitutional lines, as opposed to merely breaking historic norms. I don’t know exactly where that line is, and I haven’t found anyone yet who can convincingly describe it either, so there are still a lot of unknowns.
Musk needs to snort himself into a K-hole that he can’t get out of.