In Washington these days, Elon Musk seems to be everywhere.In the 15 days Donald Trump has been back in the White House, Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency have been moving to change every corner of the federal government. The billionaire entrepreneur and his team have gained access to a sensitive government payment system in the Treasury Department.They're pushing to drastically reduce the number of federal employees. How did the world's richest man come to have such a big role in the federal government?And why does he want it? For sponsor-free episodes of Consider This, sign up for Consider This+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.orgEmail us at [email protected] more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy
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It's been hard to turn on the news lately or scroll through your news feed and not come across something like this.
Elon Musk and the Doge team.
Two top security officials at the agency attempted to block personnel from the Elon Musk run department. Reportedly granting Elon Musk's Doge team access to the federal government's payment system, which handles. Elon Musk, the billionaire tech entrepreneur, owner of Tesla, SpaceX.
X. And now head of the Department of Government Efficiency, commonly referred to as DOJ, where he is making changes at a number of government departments.
Before our very eyes, an unelected shadow government is conducting a hostile takeover of the federal government.
That is Democratic Senator Chuck Schumer speaking on the Senate floor on Monday. He, like many federal employees and others with stakes in the workings of the federal government, have been decrying the work of Doge.
The immense danger is that we have no clarity, no explanation, no details for what Doge is truly after. The potential for corruption is too great.
Doge was created by executive order on day one of Donald Trump's second term. The goal slash government spending to make it more, well, efficient. And Musk has President Trump's support.
He's a very talented guy from the standpoint of management and costs.
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