Autogolpe:
What’s really happening beneath the Musk/Trump chaos
https://paulkrugman.substack.com/p/autogolpe
"An #autogolpe is literally a “self-coup” — when a legitimately elected leader uses his position to seize total control, eliminating #legal & #constitutional restraints on his power.
Are #Musk & #Trump trying to pull off an autogolpe here? Of course they are.
And they are doing so with, as far as I can tell, the full support of every #Republican in the #House & the #Senate"
Elon Musk’s Efforts to Slash and Burn Government Hits Major Obstacle:
A judge has pumped the brakes on Musk’s running rampant through federal agencies.
https://newrepublic.com/post/191257/judge-blocks-elon-musk-slash-burn-government
"A US District Court... on Thursday partially blocked #ElonMusk and his #DOGE groupies from further accessing #government databases.
... temporary restraining order that prevents two DOGE-affiliated employees from accessing anything other than read-only records from the Bureau of Fiscal Service’s systems."
Elon Musk’s Ego Sure to Get Massive Blow from Stunning Poll Results:
Here’s just how unpopular Elon Musk is.
https://newrepublic.com/post/191244/elon-musk-popularity-polls
"New polling has found that the #billionaire technocrat has fallen out of favor with, well, everyone (including #Republicans)...
In general, a majority of voters just don’t like the #DOGE czar at all...
Lawmakers said they have been overwhelmed by #calls from constituents across the country concerned about the Musk-Trump takeover."
What Was Elon Musk’s Team Really Up To At Treasury?
Is A Federal Judge Getting The Whole Story On Musk?
https://talkingpointsmemo.com/morning-memo/what-was-elon-musks-team-really-up-to-at-treasury
"The #Justice Department is making representations in court to a federal judge in #DC about what has and had not occurred at #Treasury, and ...
It is not at all clear that what #DOJ is telling the judge is accurate or complete...
bad information or nefariousness"
#ElonMusk #Tech #Coup #Trump #Autogolpe #Politics #Government #News #US #USA
Doge v USAid: how Elon Musk helped his acolytes infiltrate world’s biggest aid agency
Exclusive: Takeover of USAid agency by Doge operatives seen as pilot for large-scale overhaul of federal government
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/feb/05/musk-doge-takeover-usaid
" #USAid security personnel were defending a secure room holding sensitive and classified #data in a standoff with “department of government efficiency” employees when a message came directly from #ElonMusk: give the #DOGE kids whatever they want."
How Elon Musk’s deputies took over the govt’s most basic functions:
The #Trump administration views a once-obscure federal #IT unit as the “Swiss army knives” in its effort to overhaul the federal bureaucracy.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2025/02/05/elon-musk-federal-technology-takeover/
"Elon Musk’s allies are turning a once-obscure federal #IT unit into the linchpin of their sweeping campaign to tear down the federal bureaucracy...
the #Technology Transformation Services (TTS) section of the General Services Administration"
Musk’s Inexcusable Conflicts
https://contrarian.substack.com/p/musks-inexcusable-conflicts
"Elon Musk is a #government employee “who also owns companies that have billions of dollars in federal contracts"...
#conflicts of interest...
According to statute, high-level officials—almost all of whom wield much less power than #Musk currently does—must file publicly available financial disclosures.
Govt #ethics professionals then...
None of that has happened with Elon Musk."
US #government officials privately warn Musk’s blitz appears illegal:
The billionaire’s #DOGE team has launched an all-out assault on federal agencies, triggering numerous #legal objections.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2025/02/04/elon-musk-government-legal-doge/
"legal objections have been raised at the #Treasury Dept, the #Education Dept, the #USAID, the General Services Administration, the Office of Personnel Management, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission & the White House budget office, among others."
The Week in Musk...
On the chopping block: The National Weather Service
https://www.muskwatch.com/i/156642222/on-the-chopping-block-the-national-weather-service
"The National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), which manages the National Weather Service & National #Hurricane Center... On Tuesday, Musk's team entered the agency’s offices...
#NOAA primarily gathers data on changes to the #climate & #weather patterns... The fact that NOAA quantifies the effects of #ClimateChange has made it a target of Republican ire."
This week in Musk...
DOGE to be unleashed on air traffic control systems
https://www.muskwatch.com/i/156642222/doge-to-be-unleashed-on-air-traffic-control-systems
" #Musk said on Wednesday that he had received approval from #Trump to dispatch his #DOGE team to rework the complex #safety system designed to prevent planes from smashing into each other...
automating the Federal #Aviation Administration’s #ATC system...
... plans to let the DOGE team “plug in” to the ATC system to install unspecified upgrades"
#AI?
Is Elon Musk Serving Two Masters?
Elon Musk’s efforts to slash the US govt could be a huge boon to China—a country to which Musk has significant financial ties.
https://newrepublic.com/article/191265/elon-musk-us-china-usaid-tesla
"Musk’s actions are more in service of his personal financial interests—and the Chinese #government...
...cozy relationships with both #Trump & Chinese President #XiJinping... boost #China as it positions itself to replace the #US at the forefront of the #world stage."
Trump and Musk Take a Hammer to America’s Reputation:
Their version of America is selfish, wasteful, and cruel.
https://www.thebulwark.com/p/trump-and-musk-take-a-hammer-to-america-reputation-usaid-foreign-aid
#ElonMusk "wealthy beyond the dreams of Croesus, chose as his first target the poorest & most vulnerable people on #Earth...
#USAID is a duly constituted #government agency created by #Congress & #POTUS ... The attempt to close it... is flagrantly #illegal"
[USAID = 0.4% of US federal budget,
priceless good will]
Musk’s rats:
They’re burrowing into every #data system in the federal govt, although many wouldn’t pass a #security test
https://robertreich.substack.com/p/doge-poop
"Sure, there’s some waste & fraud in #government. That’s why every department had an #InspectorGeneral to find & stop it — until #Trump fired most of them. In addition, before Musk’s rats tunneled into the General Services Administration, accountants oversaw every department’s & agency’s spending.
In other words, the #coup continues."
DOGE Betrays Foundational Commitments of the Privacy Act of 1974:
Musk’s attempts to gain access to agency databases is an egregious violation of the Act, which protects personal information from abuse.
https://www.lawfaremedia.org/article/doge-betrays-foundational-commitments-of-the-privacy-act-of-1974
"No one—not even special govt employees—should access agency “systems of records” without proper authorization under the Privacy Act of 1974. Nothing suggests that #Musk or his employees have such authority... Profound harms to #privacy & #democracy are at stake."
The Government’s Computing Experts Say They Are Terrified:
Four IT professionals lay out just how destructive Elon Musk’s incursion into the US govt could be.
https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2025/02/elon-musk-doge-security/681600/
"“This is the largest data breach & the largest #IT #security breach in our country’s #history—at least that’s publicly known”...
nobody yet knows which info #DOGE has access to, or what it plans to do with it...
“I don’t think the public quite understands the level of danger.”"
A US Treasury Threat Intelligence Analysis Designates DOGE Staff as ‘Insider Threat’:
An internal email ... calls DOGE staff’s access to federal payments systems “the single greatest insider threat risk the Bureau of the Fiscal Service has ever faced.”
https://www.wired.com/story/treasury-bfs-doge-insider-threat/
" #DOGE, was granted read & write privileges on two of the most sensitive systems in the US #government... that according to #Treasury records paid out $5.45 trillion in fiscal year 2024."
Musk’s DOGE Teen Was Fired By #Cybersecurity Firm for Leaking Company Secrets:
Edward Coristine posted online that he had retained access to the firm’s servers. Now he has access to sensitive govt information.
https://archive.is/1v8FG#selection-1405.0-1411.136
“I can confirm that #EdwardCoristine 's brief contract was terminated after the conclusion of an internal investigation into the #leaking of proprietary company information"
#ElonMusk #Tech #Coup #Musk #DOGE #Politics #Government #Data #Security #News #US #USA
Elon Musk’s #DOGE Is Expected to Examine Another #Treasury System Next Week:
The new target, sources said, is a sensitive database that tracks the flow of money across the #government.
https://www.propublica.org/article/elon-musk-doge-cars-treasury-examine
"The #data in the system, known as the Central Accounting Reporting System, or #CARS, is considered sensitive...
People who work with the system have in the past been briefed that the #database may be of interest to foreign #intelligence agencies"
DOGE Staffer Who Quit Over Racist Posts Is Already Coming Back to Work:
Elon Musk said it was time to “forgive” and move on.
https://newrepublic.com/post/191327/elon-musk-rehire-doge-staffer-racist-posts
" #Musk made #SocialMedia posts expressing his support for #MarkoElez, the #DOGE staffer who wrote in September that he couldn’t be paid to “marry outside [his] ethnicity,” and that people should “normalize Indian hate.” Musk also... attacking the #journalist who had brought the racist posts to light"
“Authoritarian Rampage”: Trump/Musk Sued to Block DOGE Access to Confidential Info of Millions
https://www.democracynow.org/2025/2/7/doge_lawsuit
"Thursday, a #lawsuit by a coalition of #labor unions prompted the Labor Dept to agree not to release any sensitive economic & privacy #data to DOGE. The agency holds sensitive data likely including worker complaints against #Musk & his companies. The lawsuit argues, quote, ”DOGE seeks to gain access to sensitive systems before courts can stop them""
Trump Has Disturbing Response to DOGE’s Massive Overreach of Power:
Donald Trump admitted that Elon Musk’s agency has access to too much sensitive data.
https://newrepublic.com/post/191322/donald-trump-elon-musk-doge-overreach-power
"“Why does #DOGE need all of that?” asked one reporter.
“Well, it doesn’t, but they get it very easily,” Trump admitted. “I mean, we don’t have very good #security in our country, & they get it very easily.”
#Trump appeared completely unbothered by the massive intrusion on the #privacy of #US citizens"
Trump Purges Inspectors General Investigating Musk’s Businesses:
At least five federal agencies that have investigated Musk companies had their inspectors general axed by Trump.
https://www.levernews.com/trump-purges-inspectors-general-investigating-musks-businesses/
" #Trump (likely illegally) fired more than a dozen inspectors general... At least 5 of those IGs came from agencies currently leading or that previously led investigations into Elon Musk’s businesses... which hold billions of dollars in #government contracts."
WTF Is DOGE Doing in Department in Charge of #Nuclear Weapons?
The Dept of Energy tried to clarify why DOGE staffers suddenly got some IT access to a department that oversees the US nuclear stockpile.
https://newrepublic.com/post/191319/doge-energy-department-nuclear-weapons
"one of Elon Musk’s #DOGE underlings was granted access to the dept’s #IT systems despite opposition from its general counsel & #cybersecurity offices...
#LukeFarritor, 23... was granted access by #Energy Secretary #ChrisWright"
Elon Musk to Install DOGE Crony Amid Treasury Department Takeover:
Elon Musk’s takeover of the Department of Treasury just got much more ominous.
https://newrepublic.com/post/191307/elon-musk-doge-treasury-department-payments-takeover
"One of Elon Musk’s allies, #TomKrause... will become the financial asst secretary of the #Treasury after clashing with #DavidLebryk, the previous secretary [since 1989], over illegally ceasing payments on foreign aid."
#ElonMusk #Coup #Trump #Musk #DOGE #Politics #Government #Finance #USPol #News #US #USA #Press
All the ways Elon Musk is breaking the law, explained by a law professor:
There are a lot of them.
https://www.vox.com/politics/398618/elon-musk-doge-illegal-lawbreaking-analysis
"Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency is moving fast and breaking the #law — lots of laws.
...David Super, an administrative law professor... [said] so many of Musk’s moves were “so wildly illegal” that he seemed to be “playing a quantity game, and assuming the system can’t react to all this illegality at once.”"
Federal judge denies effort to block DOGE from accessing DOL data despite 'concerns'
DOL employees have been told to give DOGE access to any information it requests.
https://abcnews.go.com/US/judge-decide-block-doge-accessing-sensitive-labor-department/story?id=118575362
"In his ruling, federal Judge John D. Bates found that the five federal employee unions that alleged Elon Musk's cost-cutting team sought to illegally access highly sensitive #data, including medical records, failed to establish standing."🤷♀️
Federal judge blocks Musk’s DOGE from access to Treasury Department material
The judge also ordered Musk and his team to “immediately destroy any and all copies of material downloaded from Treasury Department’s records and systems, if any.”
https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2025/02/07/trump-musk-government-efficiency-attorneys-general-lawsuit/
"federal judge issued an emergency order early Saturday prohibiting... #DOGE from accessing... the #Treasury Department...
ruling came hours after attorneys general from 19 states sued to stop Musk’s team"
Attorney General Bonta Sues Trump Administration Over DOGE’s Unlawful Access to Americans’ Personal Information
https://oag.ca.gov/news/press-releases/attorney-general-bonta-sues-trump-administration-over-doge%E2%80%99s-unlawful-access
"In today’s #lawsuit, 19 attorneys general argue that this executive action has allowed people associated with... #DOGE to access #Americans’ personal and private #information, including bank account and social security numbers. The lawsuit seeks to immediately halt improper access to this sensitive information"
Did #Trump Quietly Kill a Sensitive Pentagon Probe into Elon Musk?
NYT revealed last year that #Musk & #SpaceX failed to meet federal reporting requirements for Pentagon contractors. No one has asked: What’s going on with that today?
https://newrepublic.com/article/191330/trump-quietly-kill-sensitive-pentagon-probe-elon-musk
" #ElonMusk... repeatedly failed to meet... requirements designed to safeguard #NationalSecurity despite being deeply entangled w/the #military & #intelligence bureaucracy.... Musk’s meetings w/foreign leaders"
