Elon Musk has overseen the dismissal of tens of thousands of federal employees, canceled lifesaving aid, and repeatedly threatened America’s safety-net programs as part of a hunt for waste, fraud, and abuse at the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). He has governed as an out-of-touch corporate villain, laughing about this carnage while partying, posting on social media, delivering payments to voters that mean little to him, and cashing in on new contracts and business opportunities. Even Trump administration officials and loyalists on Capitol Hill joke about the latest outrages of “Prime Minister Musk.” At every turn in his crusade of destruction, the Tesla CEO has dared the courts and a weak Democratic opposition to stop him.
But ordinary Americans quickly got fed up, with protests against DOGE, Musk, and his companies erupting nationwide. Organizers have mounted a “Tesla Takedown” campaign, with tens of thousands around the globe showing up at dealerships to condemn DOGE. They have encouraged Tesla owners to sell their cars and stockholders to dump their shares, as much of Musk’s wealth comes from his stake in the electric-vehicle manufacturer.
Before Trump’s inauguration, observers weren’t sure how seriously to take the idea of a Musk-led government-efficiency commission. But the billionaire and DOGE have been at the vanguard of Trump’s efforts to consolidate information and power over federal funds — despite Musk never being elected, appointed, or confirmed to hold such a pivotal role. Musk is technically a “special government employee,” a designation that allowed him to bypass a Senate confirmation process and avoid publicly reporting his financial holdings.
DOGE was created by renaming the U.S. Digital Service and moving it under the executive office in an apparent bid to skirt public-record laws. The ethics watchdog American Oversight has sued to force the group to comply with those laws and preserve materials subject to Freedom of Information Act requests. “The public deserves to know the full extent of the damage,” said interim Executive Director Chioma Chukwu.
Trump and Musk have tried to grant DOGE expansive authorities never envisioned by Congress, including the ability to freeze funds appropriated by lawmakers. Experts say the arrangement is unconstitutional on several levels — as are DOGE’s mass firings and its attempts to shutter or pause the work of whole government agencies. A lawsuit brought by personnel of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) laid out many of these arguments, contending that “Musk has acted as an officer of the United States without having been duly appointed to such a role.
A federal judge in Maryland agreed, ruling that Musk and DOGE likely violated the Constitution as they dismantled the office.
Another judge ordered the Trump administration to rehire thousands of probationary employees terminated by DOGE. The administration is still moving ahead with even larger mass firings. Musk and his lieutenants — many lacking in government experience — have demanded unprecedented access to sensitive personal information and government payment systems, leading to still more legal challenges.
Federal judges have determined that Trump’s administration likely violated privacy and administrative laws when it gave DOGE sweeping access to personal, private data. DOGE has continued to operate with the same playbook Musk used after acquiring Twitter, showing a zeal for speedy terminations and little regard for how departments function. Throughout the chaos and confusion of Trump’s return to power, Musk also strove to cultivate the image he’s long maintained as a workhorse, showman, and expert in varied fields.
He’s continually given grandiose and often inaccurate estimates of how much money DOGE has saved. The legal battles are ongoing, but one thing remains clear: the American public is increasingly wary of Musk’s involvement in the government and the impacts of his aggressive approaches. Merici Vinton, a former federal worker, recently left her job at the government information technology office.
She detailed a “highly secretive” effort operating under “a different set of rules” at DOGE. Vinton saw new staffers with limited knowledge of federal operations taking a bulldozer-like approach to shrinking the government. This method, driven by a “careless disregard for understanding how the work happens and what the rules and policies are,” was far removed from the collaborative and consensus-building culture typical of federal agencies.
In her first network interview since stepping down, Vinton provided an inside perspective on the changes at the US Digital Service (USDS). She witnessed the office transforming into DOGE under the Trump administration, resulting in massive spending cuts, workforce reductions, and a redirection of government priorities. Vinton joined USDS in 2021 under President Barack Obama’s initiative to improve technology across the federal government.
Public anger over Musk’s control
She worked on notable projects such as the temporary expansion of the child tax credit and Direct File, which helps Americans file their taxes directly with the IRS. She left in March, approximately two months after the Trump administration transformed USDS into DOGE.
“I came to government to build great experiences for people, to help them get their benefits easier, file their taxes easier, and get their tax refunds quicker,” Vinton said. “What DOGE is doing is breaking a lot of that down.”
Vinton and other employees learned about USDS’s transformation on Trump’s Inauguration Day, with an executive order rebranding the agency. DOGE representatives conducted brief interviews with the agency’s 162 employees, asking unusual questions such as “what makes you exceptional” and “who’s your favorite person” working at the agency.
“These questions didn’t really meet the complexity of the work we do,” Vinton remarked. The division within USDS soon became evident, with a DOGE team focused on reducing government size and a residual USDS team attempting to sustain previous IT projects. The situation was unstable and uncertain, leading to a rudderless work environment for about a month and a half.
Less than a month into Trump’s term, 43 employees were fired via 8 p.m. emails on Valentine’s Day. Shortly after, another 21 employees resigned in protest, refusing to contribute to DOGE’s actions that they felt compromised government systems and endangered Americans’ sensitive data. “I want Americans to try to understand that dismantling these systems and downsizing the federal workforce will have long-term consequences.
It’s going to be incredibly hard to rebuild,” Vinton expressed. The Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, poses significant questions about accountability within government agencies due to its opaque structure and operations. As federal norms dictate, government agencies should be transparent about their structure, staffing, and funding to ensure they can be held accountable by citizens and Congress.
However, DOGE appears to deviate from these established protocols. An investigative discussion highlighted these concerns, featuring insights from Faith Williams from the Project on Government Oversight. “The structure of DOGE matters because its structure by design helps shield DOGE, both the actors and the actions of this entity, from accountability.
It shields it from congressional accountability and from the public,” said Williams. The executive order that established DOGE essentially took over the U.S. Digital Service and renamed it the Department of Government Efficiency with a broader purview. It started with a focus on technology and transformation but expanded as DOGE teams were placed across various federal agencies.
While executive orders placing people in agencies isn’t unprecedented, this structure gave DOGE a unique start. One of the complexities with DOGE lies in its leadership. Elon Musk, closely linked with DOGE, worked with President Trump to place allies within critical positions such as the Office of Personnel Management.
Although Amy Gleason was named the official administrator, Musk remains a central figure, creating an ambiguous leadership dynamic that complicates accountability. The administration has been able to shift responsibility between Elon Musk and others as convenient, complicating efforts to hold DOGE accountable. This ambiguity is likely intentional, to shield DOGE’s operations from scrutiny.
Nearly $40 million has been identified heading to DOGE, but the legal mechanisms used to transfer these funds typically apply to fiscal transfers between established agencies, not to an ambiguous entity like DOGE. If DOGE were a typical agency, this might be easier to track and justify legally. DOGE operates in a gray zone, blurring the lines between a conventional government agency and a special project.
This lack of transparency in structure, leadership, and funding creates significant accountability challenges. Without clear definitions and oversight, it’s difficult to ensure that DOGE’s actions align with legal and ethical standards expected of federal entities.
Image Credits: Photo by Crystal Mapes on Unsplash
Cameron is a highly regarded contributor in the rapidly evolving fields of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning. His articles delve into the theoretical underpinnings of AI, the practical applications of machine learning across industries, ethical considerations of autonomous systems, and the societal impacts of these disruptive technologies.
