海角大神

As an investor, Elon Musk embraced the idea that business turnarounds require fast, drastic, and disruptive measures. Now he鈥檚 applying the same playbook to the country鈥檚 largest employer, the federal government, by seizing control of its payments system and its overseas aid department 鈥� and pushing aside civil servants who raise legal and ethical objections.聽

In doing so, Mr. Musk, the billionaire head of a newly minted Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, appears to be carrying out the mission of President Donald Trump, who has vowed to cut waste and fraud in Washington.聽聽

To President Trump鈥檚 supporters, the Silicon Valley ethos that Mr. Musk brings to overhauling taxpayer-funded institutions is why he鈥檚 needed in Washington, where a permanent political class has proved unwilling or unable to prune a bloated bureaucracy. Previous presidents, like Ronald Reagan, who vowed to pursue smaller government all failed. Mr. Reagan himself quipped in 1964, 鈥渁 government bureau is the nearest thing to eternal life we鈥檒l ever see on this earth.鈥�

That Mr. Musk is the world鈥檚 richest person and a huge political donor wielding a chainsaw over federal agencies that regulate his companies and safeguard citizens鈥� data is seen as less important than the results. And to MAGA loyalists who believe that an anti-Trump 鈥渄eep state鈥� operates in Washington, the ends are fully justified.

Frustration with Congress鈥� failure to tackle budget deficits, whichever party is in power, also plays into the narrative of Mr. Musk as the outsider who can cut the Gordian knot.聽

鈥淲e need some fresh eyes on this thing who are outside of Washington, who can say, 鈥榃hat鈥檚 wrong here? How can we get this on track?鈥� And I think DOGE serves that purpose,鈥� says Tom Davis, a former Republican congressman from Virginia.聽

Democratic lawmakers and other opponents of Mr. Trump have recoiled at Mr. Musk鈥檚 cavalier attitude and his assault on the U.S. Agency for International Development. Over the weekend, Mr. Musk insisted that the agency should be shut down. On Monday, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that USAID would be downsized and folded into his department. Mr. Musk also had a hand in a memo sent to federal employees seeking resignations by Sept. 30 titled 鈥淔ork in the Road,鈥� the same as an offer sent to Twitter workers in 2022 when he bought the social platform now called X.

Some warn that a constitutional crisis is under way, as Mr. Musk and his DOGE team聽ride roughshod over various statutes governing how the executive branch operates, such as the 1974 Impoundment Control Act, as well as protections for career civil servants. Mr. Trump鈥檚 advisers view some of these laws as unconstitutional constraints on the executive, setting up a fight in the courts.聽

鈥淭his vision of executive power is extremely dangerous,鈥� says Richard Painter, the chief White House ethics lawyer under former President George W. Bush.聽

Where does DOGE fit in government?

Mr. Musk鈥檚 ill-defined role in the Trump administration and what DOGE does may also be challenged, says Professor Painter, who teaches law at the University of Minnesota. An executive order signed by Mr. Trump after he took office made DOGE part of the executive branch, not an advisory panel as it was first envisioned. Mr. Musk hasn鈥檛 been confirmed by Congress, and his group appears to operate as a stealth unit within the administration.

As a federal officer in the Trump administration, Mr. Musk would have the authority to demand the cooperation of a government agency, says Professor Painter. But he would then also be required to disclose his financial assets and to recuse himself from any matter that could have a direct impact on his assets. The other option is for DOGE to be a federal advisory panel, which is required by law to hold public meetings and disclose its records. 鈥淵ou can鈥檛 just pick and choose,鈥� he says.聽

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters Monday that Mr. Musk is classified as a 鈥渟pecial government employee,鈥� not a full-time employee. Such an employee works for 130 days or fewer per year.聽

Sen. Elizabeth Warren, a Massachusetts Democrat who serves on the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, wrote to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent questioning why Mr. Musk and his team were granted access to federal payments systems that process more than $5 trillion annually, including tax refunds and Social Security checks. 鈥淚 am alarmed that as one of your first acts as Secretary, you appear to have handed over a highly sensitive system responsible for millions of Americans鈥� private data 鈥� and a key function of government 鈥� to an unelected billionaire and an unknown number of his unqualified flunkies,鈥� she wrote.聽

Also on Monday, the American Federation of Government Employees union joined other groups to sue the Treasury Department 鈥渇or sharing confidential data with the so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), run by Elon Musk.鈥�

鈥淗e鈥檚 a big cost cutter鈥�

Mr. Musk argues that his goal is to stop 鈥渋llegal鈥� payments that go through the Treasury Department. He wrote on X that his team is 鈥渃utting funding to fraudsters, wastrels & terrorists.鈥� He also accused Treasury officials of 鈥渂reaking the law every hour of every day by approving payments that are fraudulent or do not match the funding laws passed by Congress.鈥澛�

It鈥檚 not clear which, if any, payments have been stopped, although Mr. Musk claimed that he had cut off a refugee support-services agency. Mr. Musk鈥檚 focus on Treasury payments comes as a White House effort to pause all federal financial assistance is tied up in federal court.

On Sunday, Mr. Trump said he supported Mr. Musk鈥檚 efforts, without commenting on specific actions. 鈥淗e鈥檚 a big cost cutter,鈥� Mr. Trump told reporters. 鈥淪ometimes we won鈥檛 agree with it and we鈥檒l not go where he wants to go, but I think he鈥檚 doing a great job. He鈥檚 a smart guy, very smart, and he鈥檚 very much into cutting the budget of our federal government.鈥�

For longtime advocates of limited government, however, Mr. Musk鈥檚 high-profile strikes on federal agencies and the use of executive orders to force change have obvious drawbacks.聽

Alex Nowrasteh, vice president of economic and social policy studies at the Cato Institute, a libertarian think tank, was enthusiastic when DOGE was first announced. But he鈥檚 not impressed by its attempt to shut down USAID, or its claims of huge savings from fraud and waste that can be found, when the bulk of government spending goes for pensions, health care, and defense.聽

Mr. Musk is 鈥済etting a lot of pushback on trying to reform a tiny sliver of the U.S. budget,鈥� Mr.聽Nowrasteh says. 鈥淚t seems like a lot of pain borne by American governing institutions and not much payoff.鈥�

Congress鈥� power of the purse at stake

The best-case scenario,聽says Vin Weber, a former Republican congressman from Minnesota, is that聽ultimately聽Congress works with the administration to pass spending bills that rein in聽deficits. 鈥淭hey聽are trying to tell the country that Washington can work,鈥� says Mr. Weber, a GOP strategist, referring to Mr. Trump and Mr. Musk.聽

A less rosy outcome, Mr. Weber says, would be protracted litigation that sours voters even more on the government鈥檚 efficacy. Either way, lawmakers share the blame for winding up with a dysfunctional system for spending bills. 鈥淐ongress needs to look in the mirror. If they had protected the regular appropriation process, I don鈥檛 think we would be where we are today,鈥� he says.聽

Matt Salmon, a former GOP congressman from Arizona who served on what is now the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, says Mr. Musk is wrong to dismantle USAID, not only because the agency does good work, but also because Congress has authorized its spending. Mr. Salmon, a Trump critic, says Republicans who are ignoring DOGE鈥檚 excesses have short memories.

鈥淚 used to complain a lot when President Obama was, through executive orders, doing things that clearly should have been [done] by Congress. If you鈥檙e a strict adherent to the Constitution, you can鈥檛 [complain] just when it鈥檚 a president of the other party,鈥� Mr. Salmon says.聽

Rooting out waste and increasing transparency are worthy goals, says Faith Williams, director of the Effective and Accountable Government Program at the Project on Government Oversight, a nonpartisan watchdog group. But empowering Mr. Musk, an unelected businessman, to close down an agency without holding any hearings doesn鈥檛 feel like accountability, especially when the Trump administration is simultaneously firing inspectors general at multiple government agencies.

鈥淲hen we talk about abuses [in government] we also talk about abuses of power, and that鈥檚 what we鈥檙e seeing now,鈥� Ms. Williams says.聽

She also expects to see litigation over DOGE鈥檚 free-wheeling tactics. Still, even if the courts ultimately overturn specific actions, the damage may already have been done to expectations for how presidents can wield authority.聽鈥淭he norms are being weakened and challenged, and that鈥檚 not something that we litigate,鈥� she says.聽