Unelected Power of Musk
Eroding Norms of U.S. Government
Elon Musk, a private citizen bought his way into an influential position inside the American presidency where he can instruct and dictate policy over the American public without oversight. That’s what donating $288 million to the current president’s campaign can buy if you have it to spare.
He wasn’t elected to any post. He did not sit for a confirmation process; which don’t contain any stakes or credibility to them at all. Confirmation hearings are for the junk reality show ilk. Ignoring sharp and revealing inquiries into character, experience, and past opinions are as much a feature of the production as the hot single who sleeps with everyone in the house in a mad dash to an STI before getting kicked off the show because they’re not searching for love.
Musk could avoid the steps that his peers inside President Donald Trump’s cabinet could not. A simple transaction of just under 300 million dollars allows the president to circumvent one circus for another; by creating the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) and installing Musk as its lead.
Musk is exempt from the standard laws that define the members of a presidential administration. He works in the White House under a “special government employee” designation as explained by the U.S. Department of Justice.
Officially, he’s neither a volunteer or a full-time employee. His term under that law will grant Musk plus anyone else benefitting under the “special” presidential appointment a determined time of duty. They’ll be expected to work for the federal government for 130 days or less in a 365-day period. There’s a limit but there are ways to exploit it. This administration will explore each one that exists.
Is this strange? Mind-blowing? Legal?
It is. On all three.
Reports over the last week have Musk winding down his time in the administration since he’s been so active — and vocal about his involvement, loudly on X, in the department created specifically for him to drive — in approaching that 130 day limit. He’s been sprinting quickly aside the president over the last three months on the march to make America…a place reminiscent of the 1800s - and all that entails.
Let’s discuss his appointment, his role inside the Trump administration, and address ethics. Primarily the the DOJ laws on Ethics Rules for Special Government Employees that covers a position like the one Trump manifested for him.
The richest man on Earth is the biggest donor to the sitting U.S. president.
He owns the largest media company on the planet with algorithms designed to promote the agenda of the president and MAGA. Which they do. Purposely. Voraciously.
He has an assigned office in the White House.
The richest man on Earth also has billions of dollars in government contracts with a country that the president he paid to help elect governs rules over. No one receives more income to his companies from the U.S. government than him.
He has a top security clearance. Which gives him access to information that many Americans can’t fathom. Personal information. Information from American companies that are his direct competition.
He will have unobstructed control over a government efficiency program where he’s able to dictate where money from the U.S. government is directed.
Somehow all this raises no conflicts to anyone? The United States has never had this concentration of influence in one man…that has the president’s ear.
The wealthiest man on Earth who collects billions from the government has a direct hand in how the same government spends its money? As a new-hire of that same government?
He’s also able to blow through myriad conflicts of interest while shuttering departments with active investigations into his business practices. That’s normal.
Here are the federal agencies that DOGE has targeted with the help of Trump. Combined, they’ve undergone firings, litigation, and some have been closed. All have had active investigations of Musk’s companies dismissed or buried:
It starts with the Department of Labor (DOL) which oversees the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP), and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC).
Then:
U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT)
Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)
National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB)
Federal Election Commission (FEC)
Department of Justice (DOJ)
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
U.S. Department of Defense (DOD)
Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID)
Also, the Department of the Interior (DOI) which oversees the Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS). Lastly, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the Office of Government Ethics (OGE).
Trump fired 17 inspectors general (IGs) across 17 independent federal agencies. Many of them from the list above. It was done to curb anyone that could stop him. The illegal mass firings tears down the only independent offices within agencies designed to protect taxpayer money and root out “corruption, fraud, waste, and mismanagement” he and Musk repeat weekly.
Inspectors General exist to expunge waste, fraud, and abuse. President Jimmy Carter signed the Inspector General Act of 1978. They are meant to act independent of the president. No matter who has the title. IGs report to their agency leaders but those in charge cannot prevent or prohibit an IG’s investigation. At any point. You don’t remove them if your intention is to excise impropriety.
Over the last decade, Tesla and SpaceX account for at least $15.4 billion in government contracts and span numerous agencies. That could be small change in the overall picture. In addition to the long list of agencies that Musk and Trump have injured, these are the agencies that Musk has lucrative government contracts with. Today:
USDA
NASA
DOT
DOD
EPA
Department of Energy (DOE)
Department of State (DOS)
Department of Commerce (DOC)
Department of Veterans Affairs (VA)
Department of the Interior (DOI)
Department of Homeland Security (DHS)
General Services Administration (GSA)
Is there any overlap between the two lists?
If this was another country that allowed private capital to buy its way into the highest public office of a region that claimed to operate and govern its citizens under the umbrella of democracy, officials of the U.S. government would release a press clipping expressing concern for the citizens of said country. The U.S. government would partner with said nation for an investigation of such obvious levels of corruption.
Democracies do not function this way.
Nothing like this has ever happened in the U.S. Republicans are quiet. Clapping. Following orders. As if it’s another day in Washington. For them, it is. They aren’t the Americans under an avalanche of executive orders meant to worsen American lives. Due to direct White House policies and not the unfortunate coincidence of laws that weren’t tested before they were finally enacted.
Detonating the agencies of the U.S. government is core to Project 2025. Through Musk, Trump is achieving substantial chapters of the right-wing text at a rapid pace.
The U.S. system of government is not supposed to operate this way. The Founders, for all their faults, did not want any figure approaching someone like Musk this close to the president. Congress has no jurisdiction over him. Neither does the Supreme Court.
Whether or not Musk is ready to pack up and go back to his car and rocket enterprises, he’s still absconding with the private data of most, if not every, U.S. citizen to create a database of information. For what purposes? Only he knows.
Are you comfortable with a billionaire having access to all your private information when there isn’t anyone or agency to hold him accountable?
Americans just skip along.
No one has stopped him.
When Americans were presented with the choice of a reasonable alternative, 49.9% of voters selected this administration.