
Trump has also said he is thinking about naming a special White House advisor to oversee government reform and to work with Musk on streamlining agencies. The idea of "DOGE kids" being unleashed into government was not well received, however. "It's a really bad thing," Democratic Senator Brian Schatz told reporters. "It's like giving the fox more access to the henhouse." Musk is also said by US media to have met Trump about creating a "space force" as an independent military branch — something that would need congressional approval. He has also made headlines for trying to convince Tesla and Space X employees to leave their companies to work in government.
Trump has also said he is thinking about naming a special White House advisor to oversee government reform and to work with Musk on streamlining agencies. The idea of "DOGE kids" being unleashed into government was not well received, however. "It's a really bad thing," Democratic Senator Brian Schatz told reporters. "It's like giving the fox more access to the henhouse." Musk is also said by US media to have met Trump about creating a "space force" as an independent military branch — something that would need congressional approval. He has also made headlines for trying to convince Tesla and Space X employees to leave their companies to work in government.
Musk's US government 'takeover' sounds alarm bells WASHINGTON, D.C. — Elon Musk has begun swinging his wrecking ball at the US government, with concerns growing over the unprecedented power that President Donald Trump has handed to the world's richest man.
The South African born billionaire has taken control over the US Treasury's payments system that manages trillions of dollars. He single-handedly announced the demise of the USAID humanitarian agency. He has helped drive out top officials.
For a man who likes to rail against unelected bureaucrats, the unelected Space X and Tesla tycoon has been subject to little accountability as he pushes Trump's drive to shrink the US government.
Trump sought to play down the issue Monday when asked about it in the Oval Office, saying Elon can't do and won't do anything without our approval.
We'll give him the approval where appropriate, where not appropriate we won't. But he reports in, insisted Trump. It's something that he feels very strongly about and I'm impressed.
Musk's powers have seemed almost unbounded, leading to accusations by Democrats of an unconstitutional power grab by both him and his fellow business mogul Trump.
So far Musk has been registered as neither a federal employee nor a government official — although US media reported Monday that he had now been registered as a special government employee.
Critics point to the fact that Musk was the biggest donor to Trump's victorious election campaign, to the tune of a quarter of a billion dollars.
Then there is the fact that his companies also have huge US government contracts.
' DOGE kids' And while a cute cartoon dog initially adorned the website of Musk's Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), its later replacement by a dollar sign in a gold circle underscored what the focus would be.