Elon Musk made a clear promise after Donald Trump decided to put him in charge of making the government more efficient. “It’s not going to be some sort of backroom secret thing,” Musk said last year. “It will be as transparent as possible," maybe even streamed live online. It hasn't worked out that way so far. In the three weeks since the Republican president has been back in the White House, Musk has rapidly burrowed deep into federal agencies while avoiding public scrutiny of his work. He has not answered questions from journalists or attended any hearings with lawmakers. Staff members for his so-called Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, have sidelined career officials around Washington.
It is a profound challenge not only to business-as-usual within the federal government, which Trump campaigned on disrupting, but to concepts of consensus and transparency that are foundational in a democratic system. Musk describes himself as “White House tech support,” and he has embedded himself in an unorthodox administration where there are no discernible limits on his influence. Donald K. Sherman, executive director of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, said Trump has allowed Musk to “exert unprecedented power and authority over government systems” with “maximal secrecy and little-to-no accountability.”.
The White House insisted that DOGE is “extremely transparent" and shared examples of its work so far, such as canceling contracts and ending leases for underused buildings. House Republicans said the Trump administration also discovered that Social Security benefits were being paid to a dozen people listed as 150 years old. Trump, Musk and their allies are betting the American people will support their efforts to wipe out excessive spending, regardless of concerns about how it is being done. The president said Friday that Musk is "finding tremendous fraud and corruption and waste.” Trump was particularly enthusiastic about efforts to shut down the U.S. Agency for International Development, where Musk has worked to choke off funding.
Asked if Musk should publicly answer questions about his work, the president said, “Oh sure.”. “He’s not shy,” Trump said. "Elon’s not shy.”. That is true, at least judging by Musk's social media, where no thought appears to be suppressed. His X account is a flood of internet memes, attacks on critics and professions of loyalty to the president. He has made clear the grand scope of his ambitions, talking in existential terms about the need to reverse the federal deficit, cut government spending and roll back progressive programs.
"This administration has one chance for major reform that may never come again," he posted on Saturday. “It’s now or never.”. Musk is used to doing things his own way. The world's richest person, he became wealthy with the online payment service PayPal, then founded the electric car manufacturer Tesla and the rocket company SpaceX. More recently, he bought Twitter and rebranded it as X, cutting jobs and remaking its culture.
He seems to be taking a similar approach to the federal government, but he can be tightlipped about his plans. For example, he has not explained how his team will utilize access to payment systems that include sensitive data on people in the United States. Much of DOGE's work is happening behind the scenes. Team members have shown up at the Department of Veterans Affairs, the Treasury Department, the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, among other agencies. Their arrival is never publicly announced, and career staff members are looking over their shoulders for unfamiliar faces in the hallways.
At the Education Department, DOGE employees are working out of a conference room on the seventh floor, which also houses the secretary's office. Sheria Smith, president of a federal employees union that represents some of the agency’s staff, said it is unclear what internal systems have been accessed by Musk's team and for what reason. “It’s the lack of transparency that’s alarming,” she said.
While longtime staff members fret about their future, DOGE workers have been spotted cheerfully trading high-fives with each other. "They don’t seem to answer to anyone and are not engaging with anyone in our agency,” Smith said. Sometimes a rumor circulates that Musk himself is making the rounds. But he generally has been at the White House complex, where he has an office. David Sacks, a Musk ally working on artificial intelligence and cryptocurrency issues for the administration, said he stopped by to check on the DOGE team.
“The whole room was full of young coders,” he said during The All-In Podcast, which Sacks hosts with three other venture capitalists. “The facilities people don’t know what to do because they’ve never had people ask to stay late on Friday night before.”. Journalists have been piecing together the identities of people who work for DOGE, discovering a cadre of young acolytes with technology and engineering backgrounds.
