According to a recently published New York Times report, a Trump official is privately sounding the alarm over Elon Musk’s apparent unchecked power under President Donald Trump.
Since the inauguration, Musk has taken an aggressive and arguably unconstitutional approach to dismantling government agencies, halting Congressionally-approved spending to shrink the government. The fact that Musk’s DOGE department was designed as an advisory role but appears to have crept into an operational one without formal security clearances and any reasonable checks and balances has not just raised the nation’s eyebrows but has caused serious concern across the congressional spectrum.
The scale and nontraditional nature of the world’s wealthiest man — who can boast about massive government contracts with both the United States and foreign adversaries like China — appears to have caught the establishment entirely off guard, including traditional journalistic outlets, many of whom appear to be currently more focused on finding Trump-adjacent audiences as traditional media business models collapse.
Enter the New York Times and a murderer’s row joint byline to provide much-needed perspective and reporting on the unusual circumstances surrounding Musk’s interference. The deep dive report was co-authored by Jonathan Swan, Theodore Schleifer, Maggie Haberman, Kate Conger, Ryan Mac, and Madeleine Ngo and painted the complicated story in an easily digestible, if not prosaic, way.
The report is a must-read as it lays out the myriad of conflicts, strange behaviors, nontraditional staff, and specific Government programs immediately threatened by a bizarre group of 19-25 year-olds brought in by Musk to ostensibly wreak havoc on the US government with what seems total autonomy and zero checks and balances, most notably by a Trump-friendly Republican-led Congress happy to be left powerless in the name of fealty to Trump.
But under the condition of immunity, someone working within the White House, sourced only as a “Trump official” was willing to share his or her concerns about the role that Musk is playing. The NY Times reports:
The rapid moves by Mr. Musk, who has a multitude of financial interests before the government, have represented an extraordinary flexing of power by a private individual.
The speed and scale have shocked civil servants, who have been frantically exchanging information on encrypted chats, trying to discern what is unfolding.
Senior White House staff members have at times also found themselves in the dark, according to two officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe sensitive discussions. One Trump official, who was not authorized to speak publicly, said Mr. Musk was widely seen as operating with a level of autonomy that almost no one can control.
After laying out many of the specifics, and detailing the alarm from Democrats and Government watchdog agencies, the report returns to Musk’s apparent complete freedom to do whatever he seems fit under Trump:
In his current role, Mr. Musk has a direct line to Mr. Trump and operates with little if any accountability or oversight, according to people familiar with the dynamic. He often enters the White House through a side entrance, and drops into meetings. He has a close working relationship with Mr. Trump’s top policy adviser, Stephen Miller, who shares Mr. Musk’s contempt for much of the federal work force.
Multiple lawsuits have sprung up against Trump and Musk’s recent actions. Yet, Speaker Mike Johnson seems to entirely endorse this process, despite it taking away the specific constitutional role laid out for the legislative branch to provide a check and balance to the executive branch.
Oddly, the traditional political media ecosystem appears to be caught completely flat-footed on this massive story until at least the New York Times enters the fray with this report.
