After spending over $290 million in 2024 to help elect Donald Trump, Musk has put himself at the center of a massive, unconstitutional takeover of federal agencies. As the head of the so-called “Department of Governmental Efficiency” (DOGE), he is wielding unprecedented power to slash and burn the civil service, seize control of sensitive data, and defund critical government programs, all without any oversight or accountability.
Here’s how he got here, what he wants, and how his actions are hurting Americans.
Musk’s Twitter Takeover: A Preview of His Government Playbook
Many who have followed Musk’s career could see this coming. His chaotic takeover of Twitter (now X) in 2022 was a preview of how he would try to run the government.
He fired 80% of the staff, reduced entire teams to “skeleton crews” of just one or two people, and allegedly punished employees who disagreed with him. Workers were given a choice: commit to an “extremely hardcore” work culture or quit. His leadership style has always been aggressive and reckless, and he made it clear that he planned to take the same approach to the federal government.
One Ticket to the White House, Please: Musk’s $290 Million Path to Power
Musk’s political power skyrocketed in 2024 when he spent more than $290 million to elect Trump and other Republicans. His donations fueled Trump’s successful bid for the presidency, and once in office, Trump gave him a central role in his new administration.
As promised, Trump created an organization named the “Department of Governmental Efficiency,” or “DOGE.” But despite its official-sounding name, DOGE isn’t a real government department like the Department of Education or Transportation – that would require approval from Congress.
Instead, Trump issued an executive order to simply rename an existing agency, the U.S. Digital Service, to the “U.S. DOGE Service.” He also gave Musk the title of “Special Government Employee,” a position that doesn’t require Senate approval.
DOGE is at the heart of Trump’s plan to dismantle the federal government as we know it. The legal grounds for its authority are shaky at best, but that hasn’t stopped Musk and his team from launching an all-out attack on federal agencies. As Musk and Ramaswamy wrote in the Wall Street Journal:
“[DOGE will] cut the federal government down to size. The entrenched and ever-growing bureaucracy represents an existential threat to our republic, and politicians have abetted it for too long. That’s why we’re doing things differently. We are entrepreneurs, not politicians.”
Musk has been clear from the start: he doesn’t plan to follow the rules of government. This means no oversight, no accountability, and no respect for democracy.
Conflicts of Interest: Musk’s Self-Serving Agenda
Why does a billionaire like Musk care about the federal bureaucracy, and what does he gain from tearing it down?
While he baselessly smears civil servants, he attempts to distract from his own conflicts of interest. Musk has deep financial ties to the government that he now seeks to dismantle. Musk’s companies, including Tesla and SpaceX, have received billions in federal contracts and subsidies.
Now, with Trump giving him free rein, Musk is in a position to weaken regulations that affect his businesses, hurt his competitors, and funnel even more money into his own pockets – all without oversight or accountability.
Musk wants to reshape the federal government to look more like the tech companies that made him rich, but running a country isn’t the same as running a business.
It’s easy to get frustrated with government bureaucracy (who hasn’t dealt with a long wait at the DMV?), but it’s designed to be slow and careful for a reason – it keeps things fair, predictable, and accountable.
But Musk and his Silicon Valley buddies prefer “disruption” over stability. Unfortunately, in government, reckless decision-making puts people’s jobs, security, and essential services at risk. And through all the chaos, Musk will get even richer.
The bottom line: Elon Musk, the richest man in the world, has a chance to tear down the government systems that regulate his businesses and replace them with a system that benefits him—at the expense of everyone else.
WASHINGTON, DC - AUGUST 18: The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) building on Thursday, Aug. 18, 2022 in Washington, DC. (Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)
Musk’s Attack on Federal Agencies
Now in charge of DOGE, Musk has begun an all-out tirade against federal agencies and the people that work for them, expressing his disdain for regulation and his intent to eliminate entire agencies.
Trump’s executive order told agencies to grant DOGE access to their IT systems, which house sensitive personnel records, classified data, and financial transactions.
Here’s an ongoing list of agencies that have fallen victim to a mission that seems much more concerned with centralizing power to impose a far-right ideology than it does with helping the American people.
OPM Email: Targeting Federal Workers
One of DOGE’s first priorities was getting rid of career civil servants. Through the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), the federal government’s HR department, Musk and his team sent an email with an ultimatum to over 2 million federal employees, asking them to submit their “deferred resignation.”
According to the email, those who refuse to resign will face harsh and uncertain working conditions, including an end to remote work, “physical office relocations,” increased performance scrutiny, employee furloughs, and “downsizing” of federal agencies.
The email reads as a threat: get out of our way, or watch as we make your job more and more difficult.
Going after civil servants will have real consequences for people across the country. These workers run programs that we all need, like Social Security, Medicare, food assistance, the post office, the military – the list goes on.
But Musk seems not to care about whether these programs and organizations can deliver for the American people. He’s acting like he only cares about gutting regulations and avoiding accountability for himself and his businesses.
Treasury Takeover: Musk Aides Gain Unauthorized Access to Federal Payment Systems
One of Musk’s most dangerous power grabs has been his hostile takeover of the U.S. Treasury. The Treasury Department is in charge of processing over $5 trillion in government payments every year.
Think of the Treasury payment system as the federal government’s Venmo: it sends everything from Social Security checks to funding for Pell grants, WIC, and Medicaid. This is money that has already been approved by Congress. Treasury officials don’t make policy decisions; their job is to simply make sure that these payments go out on time.
If DOGE gained total control of the Treasury payment system, it would provide an easy way to illegally withhold payments or benefits from a wide range of people—whether that means cutting off states that don’t comply with Trump’s agenda, blocking Social Security checks, or holding back funds for programs Musk just doesn’t like.
Musk and his staff claim that they want to fight fraud and find ways to cut government spending—but they don’t have the authority to stop approved funds from going out. Only Congress has the power to decide where taxpayer money goes, and no individual person, even if they’re a high-up government employee, has the right to interfere with those payments.
A federal judge has now stepped in, temporarily blocking DOGE from accessing the payment system. But during the legal fight, Treasury officials revealed that a DOGE employee was mistakenly given permission to change payment information, not just view it.
This means Musk’s team could have interrupted payments—something Musk has openly talked about wanting to do. That’s illegal, dangerous, and a direct attack on the programs that millions of Americans rely on.
USAID: Musk Illegally Attempts to Shut Down an Independent Agency
Elon Musk is also going after the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), which provides billions of dollars in lifesaving humanitarian aid around the world.
USAID helps people recover from disasters, improves healthcare, and fights corruption in struggling countries. It was created by President John F. Kennedy in 1961 and made an independent agency by Congress in 1998.
Legally, only Congress has the power to shut it down – but that hasn’t stopped Musk from trying anyway.
Musk tiene llamado USAID “a criminal organization” and said it’s “time for it to die.” Now, he’s acting on those words. His team forced their way into USAID’s secure computer systems, locking employees out of their accounts and putting officials on leave when they refused to cooperate.
More than 1,000 USAID employees and contractors have been fired or placed on leave, and the agency’s funding has been frozen – meaning crucial programs like disaster relief, HIV/AIDS treatment, and women’s health initiatives are stuck in limbo.
Even though Musk doesn’t have the legal authority to shut USAID down, Trump has given him free rein to gut the agency, making it impossible to function. That means real harm for people in crisis.
USAID plays a key role in responding to global disasters, preventing the spread of disease, and strengthening international security, work that makes the world a safer place for everyone, including American citizens.
By attacking USAID, Musk isn’t just defying the law – he’s making the world a more dangerous place.
Department of Education: Musk Guts Funding for Student Achievement Research
On February 11, Musk announced that he and his team had canceled nearly $1 billion in Department of Education contracts, effectively shutting down the Institute of Education Sciences (IES).
IES is one of the country’s largest sources of funding for education research, studying things like student achievement, school safety, and how to improve learning in classrooms. Without this funding, critical studies will be cut short, leaving schools without the data they need to make informed decisions.
This is part of a bigger plan. Both Musk y Triunfo have said they want to get rid of the Department of Education entirely.
Doing so legally would require an act of Congress, but Trump is reportedly working on an executive order to dismantle the department, sending Musk in to cripple it in the meantime. DOGE staffers are taking over offices at the Department of Education and even running white noise machines to muffle their voices.
If successful, this effort will throw public education into chaos, making it harder for states and school districts to get the resources they need to support students. From funding for special education to school safety programs, Musk’s reckless cuts put millions of American kids at risk.
Department of Education: Musk Guts Funding for Student Achievement Research
On February 11, Musk announced that he and his team had canceled nearly $1 billion in Department of Education contracts, effectively shutting down the Institute of Education Sciences (IES).
IES is one of the country’s largest sources of funding for education research, studying things like student achievement, school safety, and how to improve learning in classrooms. Without this funding, critical studies will be cut short, leaving schools without the data they need to make informed decisions.
This is part of a bigger plan. Both Musk y Triunfo have said they want to get rid of the Department of Education entirely.
Doing so legally would require an act of Congress, but Trump is reportedly working on an executive order to dismantle the department, sending Musk in to cripple it in the meantime. DOGE staffers are taking over offices at the Department of Education and even running white noise machines to muffle their voices.
If successful, this effort will throw public education into chaos, making it harder for states and school districts to get the resources they need to support students. From funding for special education to school safety programs, Musk’s reckless cuts put millions of American kids at risk.
CFPB: Musk Wants to Clear the Way for His X Payment System
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) was created after the 2008 financial crisis to protect everyday Americans from unfair banking, credit, and lending practices.
Since 2011, this independent watchdog agency has returned over $20 billion to consumers by cracking down on hidden banking fees, predatory student loans, and deceptive credit reporting.
But now, Elon Musk and his allies are working to shut it down, putting American consumers at risk while opening the door for tech billionaires to profit.
After Trump fired CFPB Director Rohit Chopra, he replaced him with Russell Vought, who cleared the way for Musk’s DOGE team. Vought quickly issued stop-work orders at the agency and announced it would seek no money in the next funding round, effectively gutting its ability to function.
Meanwhile, DOGE staffers gained access to the CFPB’s key computer systems, and Musk has taken to X to attack the agency.
El CFPB’s union has called this a blatant attack on union workers and “the only agency that checks the greed of payment providers and auto lenders like Tesla.” Musk has a clear financial motive—Tesla operates in the auto lending space, and a weakened CFPB means fewer consumer protections against companies like his.
But Musk’s ambitions don’t stop there. Just days before DOGE took control of the CFPB, Musk’s X made a deal with Visa, hoping to become a major player in digital payments. The CFPB would normally regulate this kind of financial service, making sure that people’s personal data and money are protected.
Without the CFPB’s oversight, Musk and other tech billionaires could freely use their platforms to track our spending habits, collect personal data, and even manipulate prices based on what they know about consumers.
Chopra, the former CFPB chair, warned that without strong consumer protections, we could enter a future where companies set prices based on surveillance, charging people different amounts based on their search history, location, or even mood.
By dismantling the CFPB, Musk is eliminating the agency that stands between everyday Americans and financial exploitation, allowing him to expand his own power and profit.
What We Can Do
Let’s be clear: Elon Musk isn’t doing this to save you money. He’s using his influence to gut regulations that make us safe and cut programs that make life better – all while protecting his own fortune, which was built off of taxpayer-funded subsidies and government contracts.
He thinks that he should be able to exchange wealth for absolute power, making decisions that affect all of us with no accountability.
But America should aspire to prevent exactly that. Our system should protect people, not hand total control to billionaires. We can’t let a tech mogul run the government like his own personal empire.
It’s time to draw a line in the sand. Common Cause has launched our Fire Elon Musk campaign because we know that the wealthy and powerful shouldn’t get their way at the expense of the rest of us. We’re driving calls to Congress, petition deliveries at district offices, and a public outreach campaign to get it done.
All week, we’ve heard from allies on Capitol Hill that their phones were ringing off the hook – and lawmakers on the fence felt enough heat that many switched their votes our way at the very last minute.
House Republicans’ Spending Plan is a Power Grab for Trump and Musk – Democrats Must Say No
Congressional Republicans' new continuing resolution (CR) would keep the government funded but at a dangerous cost, cutting key social programs while giving Donald Trump and Elon Musk unprecedented control over federal spending. Democrats in the Senate must stand up to this power grab.
