Elon Musk has seen a flood of attempts to check his powers as he expands to almost every corner of the government.
In the weeks since President Trump took office, Musk and his team at the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) tried to access or access databases for many departments. It has hampered the workforce of the United States Organization for International Development (USAID). It helped to spearhead the government-wide employee acquisition program.
And he's not going to stop – Musk signaled on social media that his team looked up the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services for potential spending waste. Transport Secretary Sean Duffy said Doge staff will “plug in to upgrade the aviation system.”
The agency faces nearly half a dozen lawsuits over DOGE and staff efforts to access various federal databases.
Some focus on violations of privacy laws, but others follow the structure of Doge itself. It was originally conceived as an advisory committee to the president before Trump's order was replaced by US digital services and converted to Doge.
Kel McClanahan, the lawyer who sued an email sent by the Human Resources Administration (OPM), which allowed acquisitions to be sent to all government officials, said “creating a cybersecurity nightmare waiting for it to happen.” did. .”
“There are rules on how information is accessed and stored in the federal government. The reason for these rules is that the government misuses information about you, and the average American from government overreach. It's about protecting the
“And what Musk and Trump have done here, and the Treasury and everyone else say, 'Well, those rules aren't important to us – we're in a hurry.” ”
The union filed a similar lawsuit with the Treasury, earning an early victory when the Justice Department agreed to “read access” files only in the lawsuit. However, the union is still trying to block the move completely, calling it an unprecedented intrusion.
Nevertheless, Musk's close allies will be set up in the Ministry of Finance, The Washington Post reported on FridayInstead of carrying out an order blocking foreign aid, it replaces the resigned high-ranking officials.
The lawsuit in the Department of Labor and Education is also pending, as is the case with other trioes who say mask work is in violation of the Federal Advisory Board Act.
Democrats voiced an alarm directly on Trump this week, warning Doge staff are bypassing practices designed to protect classified material.
“All of these agencies have a large amount of classification information and bypassing the safeguards established to protect such information could potentially irreparable national security. Whatever the mission is, the extremely irregular process in which laws and policies designed to protect sensitive information are threatened and punished is unacceptable and dangerous,” said Democrat leaders of each committee. written in a letter led by member Jim Himez (D-Conn).
Senate Intelligence Democrats raised similar concerns, noting that Musk's authority remains unclear as well as the situation of his staff pursuing the classified files.
“It appears Doge's access is expanding,” wrote Sen. Mark Warner (Va.), the committee's top Democrat, who writes with other panel Democrats.
“Information about who was officially hired under Doge, whether Doge runs it, how Doge reviews and monitors staff and representatives, and who was officially hired under Doge. It is not provided, and personal information from Americans.”
Outside of Trump, the White House offers vague details about who Musk is responsible.
“Elon can't do anything without our approval and won't do it,” Trump told reporters Monday. “And we will give him approval when necessary.
White House Press Secretary Caroline Leavitt was asked Wednesday what measures the administration is taking to avoid conflicts of interest given his widespread financial investments. Leavitt proposed that Musk will be the person who will decide when to leave a particular project.
“The president has already been asked and answered this question this week. He has been asked about a conflict of interest between Elon Musk and the funds that Doge oversees Elon's excuses himself from those contracts. If they encountered him, he said he was compliant again. All applicable laws,” Levitt said.
Musk is designated as a special civil servant. Ministry of Justice Define the role as follows: Individuals who work “within 130 days in 365 days” or are expected to work for the government.
This classification also means that masks are exempt from certain financial disclosure rules that apply to full-time government employees.
Trump has stipulated that the signatories who signed the establishment of Doge would fall under the President's Executive Office. That distinction means that Doge's activities fall under the Presidential Records Act. How fast will you limit it You can make certain documents publicly available.
However, McClanahan said the status of Musk's employees is not important. This is because the agency database must be accessed by an approved department representative.
“It doesn't matter if Musk is a member of the US government's services or a random billionaire with a White House Hall Pass. He doesn't have the ability to view those files,” McClanahan said. I did.
Questions have also been raised about employers filling the ranks of Doges.
Marco Erez, 25, resigned on Thursday. Wall Street Journal He revealed his racist, now obsolete social media post.
According to the journal, the accounts related to Erez, published in September “Normalizing India's Hatefulness,” are published about people of Indian ethnic groups working in the US technology sector.
“You couldn't pay me to marry outside of my ethnicity,” he wrote in another post cited by the outlet.
Musk later attacked the person in charge of the story, saying that it was “certainly inappropriate and possibly a criminal” to write a story about his employees considering she worked for USAID. .
He also launched a poll asking if he should rehire Erez and ultimately decided to bring him back.
Vice President Vance also told Erez's defense, “I obviously disagree with some of Erez's posts, but I don't think stupid social media activities should ruin a child's life.”
Another employee, Edward Coristine, a 19-year-old member of Musk's staff, was previously fired for leaking information during an internship at a cybersecurity company. Bloomberg reported Friday. Previously questioned wired Whether Coristine's other relevances interfere with his ability to pass background checks for security clearance.
Trump closed the week in praise of the mask work.
“Elon does a great job. He finds enormous fraud, corruption and waste. You see it along with USAID, but you can do it in other institutions and other regions of government. I'm going to see more of that,” the president told reporters Friday.
“He has a great staff member. He's been wanting to do this for a long time.”
