The Framers Had a Plan to Protect Us From Elon Musk
“If Trump gets away with doing this, we’re going back to the 18th century.”
https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2025/03/elon-musk-appointments-clause-doge/
"Multiple challenges to #Musk & the actions of his #DOGE allege his vast authority violates the #AppointmentsClause, one of the #Constitutions key anti-corruption measures... which the framers crafted to prevent the kingly practice of handing #jobs & #authority to unaccountable allies"
Why will it take DOGE three years to respond to a simple FOIA?
https://freedom.press/the-classifieds/why-will-it-take-doge-three-years-to-respond-to-a-simple-foia/
"DOGE is “likely covered” by the Freedom of Information Act, and... cannot hide its records...
[DOGE] tried to argue it would take 3 years to respond to the #FOIA request, even if they fast-tracked their response...
Even if the recent ruling stands, we will have to keep a close eye on the myriad of ways #DOGE could continue to evade #public scrutiny"
Outgoing Commerce Official Shreds Elon Musk’s Starlink in Final Email
An official working on broadband expansion brutally condemned #Musk.
https://newrepublic.com/post/192819/commerce-official-elon-musk-starlink
" #ElonMusk intends to get rich at the expense of rural #Americans...
“Stranding all or part of rural #America with worse #internet so that we can make the world’s richest man even richer is yet another in a long line of betrayals by Washington,” Feinman wrote"
#Starlink #Corruption #Trump #GOP #Politics #USPol #News #US #USA
‘It’s a Heist’: Real Federal Auditors Are Horrified by DOGE
WIRED talked to actual federal auditors about how #government auditing works—and how DOGE is doing the opposite.
https://www.wired.com/story/federal-auditors-doge-elon-musk/
"federal #auditors with years of #experience... say that DOGE’s actions are the furthest thing from what an actual #audit looks like...
“Honestly, comparing real #auditing to what #DOGE is doing, there’s no comparison... None of them are auditors”
" #DOGE appears to have completely eschewed the existing processes for actually rooting out waste, #fraud, and abuse.
“An #audit that follows Generally Accepted Government Auditing Standards (GAGAS)... That is the gold standard for how you audit the #government.”
There are generally five phases of a GAGAS audit, the auditors tell WIRED: planning, evidence gathering, evaluation, reporting, & follow up."
https://www.wired.com/story/federal-auditors-doge-elon-musk/
#ElonMusk #Musk #Coup #Corruption #Trump #GOP #Politics #News #US
Musk’s Role in Dismantling Aid Agency Likely Violated Constitution, Judge Finds
It appears to be the first time a federal #judge has acted to constrain Elon Musk, a top adviser to #Trump...
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/18/us/politics/elon-musk-usaid-doge-unconstitutional.html
"Efforts by #ElonMusk & his team to permanently shutter #USAID likely violated the #Constitution “in multiple ways” & robbed #Congress of its authority to oversee the dissolution of an agency it created"
#Musk #Coup #Corruption #GOP #Politics #USPol #News #US #USA
Elon Musk’s DOGE Guts U.S. Nuclear Agency
DOGE cuts have hit some of the country’s top nuclear scientists.
https://newrepublic.com/post/192825/elon-musk-doge-cuts-nuclear-scientists
"Several #nuclear scientists, bomb engineers, & #safety experts critical to #NationalSecurity were among the cuts...
the wanton, haphazard budget cuts championed by #Musk & the #GOP... Many people who left the agency held top-secret #security clearances, and it will be tough to train replacements."
#ElonMusk #Doge #Trump #Politics #USPol #Science #News #US #USA
The Brave New World of Oligarch Lordships—Apparently They’re AWESOME!
https://talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/the-brave-new-world-of-oligarch-lordships-apparently-theyre-awesome
"Will #Elon soon be the sovereign over a chunk of #Texas? Are we about to start handing out #digital lordships to the top #oligarchs? I have no idea. What interests me about this, however, is that we’re actually in the midst of one such #experiment. A digital lordship is really what #DOGE is. It’s not geographical. Or rather, it’s the entire country."
Tesla Execs Want Trade War Relief, Just Don’t Tell Elon Which Execs
https://www.techdirt.com/2025/03/17/tesla-execs-want-trade-war-relief-just-dont-tell-elon-which-execs/
"someone at #Tesla sent a detailed letter to the #US Trade Representative essentially begging for relief from the very policies their #CEO has been championing as he destroys the traditional institutions of #government
...they’re apparently too afraid of their own boss to put their names on that learning experience."
#ElonMusk #Musk #Coup #Fascism #Trump #GOP #Politics #USPol #FAFO #News #US #USA
Veterans Group Wants to Make Elon the Supervillain of the Midterms
A new ad campaign from VoteVets goes after vulnerable House Republicans by turning the spotlight on DOGE.
https://www.thebulwark.com/p/veterans-group-wants-to-make-elon-the-supervillain-of-midterms
"The #ads all feature the same roundtable of #veterans sharing their struggles after losing #employment because of #DOGE cuts...
it features #Musk throughout, incl the now infamous scene of him wielding a chainsaw on stage at #CPAC."
#ElonMusk #Coup #Corruption #Trump #Politics #USPol #News #USA
DOGE Reverses Move That Made Its Claims Nearly Impossible to Check
After getting called out, Elon Musk’s cost-cutting group reinstated details about the grants that it canceled.
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/18/us/politics/doge-federal-grants-identifying-information.html
"The new details provided by the group made clear that its claims about these canceled grants also contained the same kind of errors that had marred its previous work."
#ElonMusk #Musk #Doge #DonaldTrump #Trump #GOP #Politics #USPol #Government #News #US #USA
Musk Ally, DOGE Member Stanley Tapped For Fannie Mae Board Amid Shakeup
https://archive.is/TUlq7#selection-1377.0-1377.71
"Mortgage giant #FannieMae has added Christopher Stanley, a #cybersecurity engineer at #SpaceX and #SocialMedia platform X — who is also involved with the Dept of Govt Efficiency — to its board of directors, the latest sign of how Elon Musk’s allies are embedding into the federal #government."
#ElonMusk #Musk #Doge #Coup #Corruption #Trump #GOP #Politics #USPol #News #US #USA
Elon Musk’s Starlink Expands Across White House Complex
#Trump admn officials said the company donated the #internet service, saying the gift had been vetted by the lawyer overseeing ethics issues in the #WhiteHouse Counsel’s Office.
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/17/us/politics/elon-musk-starlink-white-house.html
" #Musk... controls Starlink...
the White House “was aware of DOGE’s intentions...” and that it “did not consider this matter a security incident or #security breach.”
#ElonMusk #Coup #Corruption #GOP #Politics #USPol #News #US #USA
Elon Musk’s Starlink Takes Over the White House
The world’s richest man now has control over the internet at the White House.
https://newrepublic.com/post/192855/elon-musk-white-house-starlink-internet
"numerous #conflicts of interest & #ethics issues. #Musk already collects billions of dollars through his #government contracts, & controls #Starlink. If #WhiteHouse employees are using the #internet service, he could have access to their #data... questions as to how secure Starlink’s #network is."
Elon Musk’s DOGE Uses Police to Seize Independent Nonprofit
The US Institute of #Peace is not a federal agency nor located in a federal building. That didn’t stop DOGE from taking over.
https://newrepublic.com/post/192854/elon-musk-doge-police-independent-nonprofit-usip
"The #USIP, an independent #nonprofit founded by #Congress...
“What has happened here today is an illegal takeover by elements of the executive branch of a private nonprofit,” Moose told reporters."
#ElonMusk #Musk #Doge #Coup #Corruption #Trump #GOP #Politics #USPol #News #US #USA
Independent Agency CEO: 'DOGE has broken into our building.'
https://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow/watch/independent-agency-ceo-doge-has-broken-into-our-building-234654789971
"The #US Institute for #Peace announced Monday that despite being independent of the executive branch & controlling its own building & the land it sits on, their objections to members of Elon Musk's #DOGE team trespassing in their building were overridden by DC #police...
unprecedented nature of DOGE leveraging the threat of armed law enforcement against another part of the #government"
Musk’s Team Evicts Officials at the US Institute of Peace
A bubbling dispute broke into a dramatic standoff that ended with #police involvement and the Dept of #Government Efficiency taking up residence at the independent agency.
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/17/us/politics/doge-musk-institute-of-peace.html
"Institute officials had called the police to report that #DOGE members were trespassing, she said, but 👀 the police instead cleared institute leaders from the building."👀‼️ [WTAF?]
DOGE Seizes Control of Independent Org Dedicated to Peace
Following a #police standoff, Elon Musk’s lackeys took over the nonprofit’s HQ in what its former leader referred to as an “illegal takeover.”
https://www.vanityfair.com/news/story/doge-seizes-control-of-us-peace-institute
"More than 40 years ago, #Congress established the #US Institute of #Peace (USIP) as an “independent, nonprofit, national institute” to “promote #international peace & the resolution of conflicts.”
#Doge just took it over."
Elon Musk Whines That Everyone Is Being Mean to Him
Elon Musk truly doesn’t understand why people hate his guts.
https://newrepublic.com/post/192856/elon-musk-everyone-mean-to-him
" #Tesla comprises the majority of Musk’s net worth—but the carmaker’s ongoing 8-week slump is largely due to a #global brand #boycott.
Company #stock is down by 50% so far this year, and analysts have faulted Musk’s reputational shift for the automaker’s financial woes."
#ElonMusk #Musk #Coup #Corruption #Doge #Trump #USPol #Politics #Cars #News #US #USA
"sales in [Germany] fall by more than 70%... Sales in China... falling by 49%...
Last week, the automaker’s stock had its worst day since 2020, as its Musk-induced problems coincided with historic #market volatility under Donald Trump’s new #tariff plans.
Board members, executives, & major investors in #Tesla are jumping ship. Four top officers at the company have unloaded more than $100 million in #stock"
https://newrepublic.com/post/192856/elon-musk-everyone-mean-to-him
#Resist #Musk #TeslaTakedown #USPol #Politics #News #US #USA
DOGE Rampage May Have ‘Immediate,’ ‘Long-term’ Effects For Courts, Judicial Branch Warns
https://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/doge-rampage-may-have-immediate-long-term-effects-for-courts-judicial-branch-warns
"The memo demonstrates how far DOGE’s campaign to maim the federal #government has gone. In this case, the federal #courts, part of the #judicial branch, are saying that their daily operations may be impacted #DOGE — a shocking admission from... a group not known for hyperbole or flippancy."
#ElonMusk #Musk #Coup #Corruption #Trump #GOP #Politics #Law #USPol #News #US #USA
Elon Musk Dealt Huge Blow as Judge Rules USAID Cuts Unconstitutional
A judge has ruled that Elon Musk and DOGE officials must restore USAID’s functionality.
https://newrepublic.com/post/192889/elon-musk-doge-judge-rules-usaid-unconstitutional
"Chuang’s order constrains #DOGE & #Musk personally—the first order to do so for the shadowy head of the amorphous organization.
Chuang wrote that he agreed with the plaintiffs & said that DOGE had violated the separation of powers clause"
#ElonMusk #Coup #Corruption #Trump #GOP #Politics #USPol #USAID #News #USA
Ethics Complaint in WI Targets Elon-backed Organization
https://contrarian.substack.com/p/ethics-complaint-in-wi-targets-elon
"Yesterday, an #ethics complaint was filed with the #Wisconsin Ethics Commission against Building America’s Future, a #political organization backed by #ElonMusk. The complaint alleges that the organization failed to disclose its express advocacy spending, which is in violation of Wisconsin #law."
#Musk #Coup #Corruption #PAC #Politics #USPol #USPolitics #News #US #USA
Elon Musk Joins Trump at Secret $1 Million per Plate Dinner
Why wasn’t this on Trump’s official schedule?
https://newrepublic.com/post/192864/trump-elon-musk-secret-mar-a-lago-dinner
"Saturday, #DonaldTrump held a candlelight dinner at his #MaraLago estate in #Florida, with #tech #oligarch #ElonMusk... guests were asked to spend $1 million per seat.
...this dinner did not appear on the president’s official schedule, unlike a similar candlelight dinner two weeks earlier where guests were also asked to donate $1 million each"
Smears, Sadism & Social Security
Why #ElonMusk wants to make seniors suffer
https://paulkrugman.substack.com/p/smears-sadism-and-social-security
"Under [Musk's] plan, beneficiaries would still be able to call the #SSA. But they would have to verify their identity either over the #internet or through in-person visits to field offices.
Bear in mind that we’re talking about older and/or disabled #Americans, many of whom are unable to access the internet & physically unable to visit SSA offices"
"Why do this? The alleged justification is to combat fraud. But... fraudulent benefit claims are not, in fact, a serious problem.
So what the #Musk is going on here? This plan would save some money, not by eliminating #fraud, but by effectively cutting off aid to #Americans who are legally entitled to that aid, & specifically those who need it most. But I don’t think the savings are the point."
https://paulkrugman.substack.com/p/smears-sadism-and-social-security
#Cruelty #ElonMusk #Doge #Trump #GOP #USPol #SocialSecurity #News #US #USA
"does the plan have to be this #cruel to the most vulnerable #Americans? As I see it, the cruelty is a feature, not a bug.
After all, gratuitous, seemingly gleeful #cruelty has been a hallmark of DOGE’s operations...
We’re mostly talking about poorly socialized young #men suddenly given the power to ruin other people’s lives, taking their cues from a leader who has declared that “the fundamental weakness of Western society is #empathy.”
https://paulkrugman.substack.com/p/smears-sadism-and-social-security
Casual White House Starlink Use Is A #Cybersecurity Nightmare, A Transparency Problem, And A Weird Marketing Stunt
https://www.techdirt.com/2025/03/19/casual-white-house-starlink-use-is-a-cybersecurity-nightmare-a-transparency-problem-and-a-weird-marketing-stunt/
" #Musk is casually integrating #Starlink systems into the #WhiteHouse telecom network...
to have a #communications backchannel for stuff you don’t want tracked by any sort of White House network logging technologies... there are suggestions the Starlink traffic isn’t encrypted, creating a huge security risk"
"Hi, I'm the guy who used to oversee the federal government's agency IT telecommunications contracts. This is extremely bad. There is absolutely no need for this. Not only is it a huge security exposure, but the simplest explanation for this is that it is meant to be a security exposure."
https://bsky.app/profile/waldo.net/post/3lkmo3w3pvk2n
#ElonMusk #Musk #Doge #Starlink #Corruption #Trump #GOP #Politics #USPol #US #USA
![Text from article:
While this drama is spilling out in the press, it’s legally relevant. Multiple challenges to Musk and the actions of his Department of Government Efficiency allege his vast authority violates the Appointments Clause, one of the Constitutions key anti-corruption measures. Under this clause, which the framers crafted to prevent the kingly practice of handing jobs and authority to unaccountable allies, any officer of the United States must be formally nominated by the president and confirmed by the Senate. Moreover, such appointees must fill a role created by Congress. Musk’s exercise of vast authority, at least four lawsuits allege, is unconstitutional, as he was neither confirmed by the Senate nor is he serving in any role Congress created. “You don’t have to stretch the text very far to see that there is a problem under [the Appointments Clause in] Article Two,” says Jed Shugerman, a law professor and historian at Boston University School of Law.](/proxy/post_attachment/1614888/bcd6d5be94.png "Text from article:
While this drama is spilling out in the press, it’s legally relevant. Multiple challenges to Musk and the actions of his Department of Government Efficiency allege his vast authority violates the Appointments Clause, one of the Constitutions key anti-corruption measures. Under this clause, which the framers crafted to prevent the kingly practice of handing jobs and authority to unaccountable allies, any officer of the United States must be formally nominated by the president and confirmed by the Senate. Moreover, such appointees must fill a role created by Congress. Musk’s exercise of vast authority, at least four lawsuits allege, is unconstitutional, as he was neither confirmed by the Senate nor is he serving in any role Congress created. “You don’t have to stretch the text very far to see that there is a problem under [the Appointments Clause in] Article Two,” says Jed Shugerman, a law professor and historian at Boston University School of Law.")
