It might not be an exaggeration to say that the past 50 or so days have been one of the most eventful stretches in American history. Since the inauguration of Donald Trump Jan. 20, there has been no shortage of drama in Washington. From enacting some of the most brutal tariffs since World War II to humiliating fellow world leaders on national television, Trump has made it clear that the second coming of his presidency will be unlike anything Americans have ever seen.
But it’s not just Trump causing political chaos — in fact, he’s arguably upstaged by one of his own appointees: Elon Musk.
It’s not surprising to see Musk at the center of controversy. As much as Trump doesn’t fit the mold of a traditional president, Musk doesn’t exactly act like a traditional billionaire — he seems to have an insatiable desire for media spotlight. While the Bezoses and Buffetts of the world quietly lounge on their yachts, Musk smokes marijuana with Joe Rogan and plays video games under the handle of “cyb3rgam3r420.” Musk’s habits mirroring that of a collegiate slacker haven’t impeded his business acumen though — Musk’s $350 billion net worth towers over that of his contemporaries.
A year ago, the thought of the world’s richest man having a direct impact on the U.S. government was unthinkable. Private citizens — especially tech moguls — usually prefer to stay out of the political spotlight as much as possible, instead relying on low-key donations to achieve their goals. Musk, however, has opted to flip this approach on its head, becoming one of Trump’s largest donors — and his most outspoken ally. In exchange for his fervent loyalty, Musk has been provided with one of the most extraordinary opportunities any billionaire has ever received: unbridled influence in government spending.
Musk’s official title is that of a “special government employee” who serves as a senior advisor to Trump. However, the bulk of his power lies in the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) — an unofficial government agency with the goal of slashing government spending. The DOGE is not an entirely new entity — it was originally the United States Digital Service, which was a technology unit founded by the Obama administration that sought to improve federal tech systems.
Perhaps it’s a good thing that Musk bothered to change the name, because the DOGE operates less like a service and more like a crime syndicate. Since Musk took the reins of the agency, DOGE has wasted no time seeking to eliminate what it refers to as “waste, fraud and abuse.” In under 50 days, DOGE has fired north of 30,000 government workers, gutted federal programs to the point of oblivion and has even deleted entire agencies in Musk’s quest to rip federal government down to the studs.
These sweeping changes have been compounded by DOGE’s mafia-esque tactics, in which agency employees barge into federal buildings without security clearances and relentlessly hunt through sensitive data systems to find expenditures they deem to be unneeded. These break-ins are then followed up with emails from the organization demanding that employees list their activities in the past week, lest they be terminated. While Musk and his team haven’t publicly disclosed the identities of specific DOGE employees, news organizations have identified certain members of the workforce. Many employees are under 25 years old — including one 19-year old employee known only by his online moniker of “Big Balls.”
Suffice to say, DOGE has generated some controversy. Many Americans have relentlessly protested the agency’s rampant firings, and 14 states have filed a lawsuit against the organization due to its alleged unconstitutional practices. And while these are valid complaints, they disregard one of DOGE’s core flaws: it can’t seem to get its own story straight.
Despite Musk promising maximum transparency in reports of DOGE’s actions, the agency has consistently failed to accurately report its own purported savings. The official DOGE website has had numerous instances of exaggerated or even false claims, including a $650 million USAID cut being listed three times and an ICE cut that supposedly saved $8 billion in taxpayer dollars, but in reality was worth merely $8 million. Musk and his team claim that DOGE has saved over $65 billion dollars, but these numbers have been rendered unverifiable due to the amount of misinformation on the agency’s record books. Additionally, it’s expected that nearly 40 percent of DOGE’s contract cuts won’t actually produce savings. It raises the question: if an agency can’t accomplish its sole goal, what good is it anyway?
Even if DOGE does manage to help balance the American budget, its current numbers are quite disparate from Musk’s initial promise of $2 trillion in savings. While there’s no questioning the sheer chaos that DOGE has managed to cause through its evisceration of federal enterprise, the organization has come up well short of its lofty goals. Trump, while he has praised the department numerous times, has also demanded that DOGE increase its aggressiveness. And while Musk has enthusiastically responded to the challenge, a businessman like him must understand that the honeymoon period doesn’t last forever. Things might appear dandy between the two billionaires for the time being, but if DOGE doesn’t start appeasing Trump’s standards soon, this unprecedented partnership may be headed for an ugly divorce.
Contact Mac Ribner at ribner@oxy.edu
