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Elon Musk Bought the Oval Office – How Is He Using It? [1]
['Made With']
Date: 2025-04
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.
As his former DOGE co-leader Vivek Ramaswamy put it, “Elon doesn’t bring a chisel; he brings a chainsaw.”
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:
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https://www.commoncause.org/articles/elon-musk-bought-the-oval-office-how-is-he-using-it/
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