The Case of Elon Musk: Feeding the U.S. Agency for International Development to the Wood Chipper in the Early Stages of Inflation
The first casualty is the U.S. Agency for International Development or U.S.A.I.D. Musk seems to hold a vendetta against the agency. He has labeled the group a radical-left political psy op, a criminal organization, and a viper’s nest of Marxists who hate America. On Monday, shortly before 2 a.m., he bragged that he and his allies had spent the weekend “feeding USAID into the wood chipper.” In addition to wreaking vengeance on an agency he hates for still undisclosed reasons (although it may be worth noting that U.S.A.I.D. supported the efforts of Black South Africans during and after apartheid), Musk believes that cutting government spending is the only way to reduce inflation and put the U.S. economy on firm footing.
Beyond any single action is a larger looming question: if Musk can claim the authority to shut down a congressionally funded agency like USAID, and DOGE has the technical capacity to control Treasury payments, what prevents it from quietly (or even loudly) reshaping other parts of Congress’ appropriations? A court order stopped Trump from implementing an across-the-board federal funding freeze. Doge is facing legal challenges, but they don’t know what will happen.
Even if anyone had elected Elon Musk to anything, the past week would still be one of the most serious examples of executive branch malfeasance in American history.
Where is the leadership of the Democratic Party? A statement by Seiler, Moore, and many other demonstrators on Tuesday night in front of the Treasury
The crowd quickly dispersed once the remarks concluded. The doors to the building were closed. It was difficult to know who was listening out of those doors.
One rally-goer refused to give their name but asked, “Where is the leadership of the Democratic Party?” It is time to recognize that there are people that you can’t cooperate with. It’s time to mount a real opposition to the hostile takeover of the US government.
The comment was somewhat surprising from a lawmaker who’s been known to critique her own party for inaction. But on a livestream on Tuesday, she assured constituents that they’d be likely to see more action from Democrats now that House members have returned from their districts to Washington and advocated that the Senate block all of Trump’s nominees. “We need to be a pain in the ass,” she said.
Democratic lawmakers have declared their tools are limited. Without a majority in either chamber, they can’t stop actions that Republicans appear mostly aligned on. Some are trying to take advantage of Republicans’ slim margin of victory in Congress, stalling operations, or denying Republicans a winning vote. The Democrats can do some things, but GOP control the House and Senate makes it harder for them to do so.
Rep. Brendan Boyle (D-PA), the ranking member of the House Budget Committee, says in a statement that “Trump’s attempts to withhold funds that have already been approved are flatly unconstitutional. Donald Trump has a constitutional duty to follow the law, and an appropriations bill is a law. We will use every tool at our disposal to make them obey the law, but if they are not sure, I would encourage them to read the preamble to the constitution.
A person who attended Tuesday’s rally in front of the Treasury said that the whole ball game is happening right now. If they are able to do things with no accountability, then how can we stop them? I don’t think people outside of DC understand how big this is.
Seiler, Moore, and many other demonstrators were not federal workers. All of us are involved in this argument, asserted Seiler. “The information that they have access to includes people who file taxes online.” Reports say the systems include personal data like student loan data and Social Security numbers. Moore expressed worry that someone like Musk infiltrating the federal government could be difficult to fix with an election.
Another protester, Krista O’Connell, fears Musk’s access to federal data because she believes “he has no moral compass or guardrails.” Even before Trump’s inauguration, Musk was using the banner of DOGE to direct harassment at little-known government employees. It is frightening that he can do so much with that data. You have to hope for the best.
In just the last few days, Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) — a new temporary organization Trump created out of the United States Digital Service and appointed Musk to lead — have consolidated power and targeted a growing list of federal departments. He’s taken it upon himself to shut down the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and reportedly locked out civil servants at the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) from their own computer systems. “This is all about taking over the government in order to advance the interests of Elon Musk and the billionaires at the expense of everybody else in America,” continued Van Hollen.
is a senior policy reporter at The Verge, covering the intersection of Silicon Valley and Capitol Hill. She wrote about antitrust, privacy and content moderation when she was at CNBC.