Donald’s DOGE Destroying Democracy
DOGE is an illegal entity giving Donald’s Donor-in-Chief, Elon Musk, a bulldozer to flatten laws, remove resistance, and destroy democracy.
Musk’s WreXing Crew
Yesterday? It was USAID’s turn.
The New York Times reported, on Sunday that “[t]he two top security officials at the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) were put on administrative leave on Saturday night after refusing to give representatives of Elon Musk access to internal systems, according to three U.S. officials with knowledge of the matter.”
These systems frequently include classified materials, for which the viewers need a security clearance.
So, when John Voorhees, USAID’s Director of Security, and his deputy, Brian McGill, tried to stop the DOGE gang from entering a secure area, in their offices, to access classified material, Musk’s minions had them put on administrative leave.
"No classified material was accessed without proper security clearances," said Katie Miller, a spokesperson for DOGE, in a post on X. The statement, though, especially coming from a mendacious Musk, who frequently departs the fact lane, doesn’t make it so.
The Guardian reported that some DOGE personnel, including nineteen-to-twenty-four-year-old engineers with questionable, if any security clearances, accessed classified information.
They are not alone though. Musk’s DOGE desperados descended on Treasury, over the weekend, and gained access to the Federal Payments System (FPS) at the Bureau of Fiscal Service (BFS). BFS controls pretty much everything that the government pays out. Over $6 Trillion worth. It also has access to sensitive records of millions of American citizens.
Musk wanted to shut down the federal payment system, which pays, amongst other people, HIM.
SpaceX, Starlink, and Tesla have $16.25B worth of contracts, with the Federal government, that pass through that system. He has numerous competitors, whose money also flows out from the FPS.
Which begs the question…
Who the Hell does Elon Musk think he is?
Despite its cute name, the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), is not a government entity at all. Trump doesn’t have authority to create official government departments. Only Congress can do that, by passing a law to enact them.
Up until late Tuesday, Musk had no public record of holding an official government position. He was not on the federal payroll, as a consultant. He does not receive a government salary.
His role in DOGE has no formal government appointment, save one vague one.
Trump, in one of his blitzkreig of Executive Orders (EOs), gave Musk, and his non-department of government, that’s more of a ‘task force(?)’, inside the White House, sort of (?), full access to government agencies.
Due to a hail of criticism of Musk, Trump’s press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, put out this, as part of her bumbling reply, on Tuesday:
What is a “special government employee, you ask?” It’s a vague classification that is only supposed to last for temporary workers with limited assignments, for a maximum of 130 days.
Even with that EA, though, and Musk’s supposed employment, without salary, DOGE’s non-governmental employees, mostly Musk’s own private workers, do not have proper security clearances to access classified material. Nor does Musk. If he had a security clearance, Leavitt would have been much happier to be able to tell the press this.
Beyond his employees, and the national security violations, there’s the curiously conflicting case of Mr. Musk himself. This “consultant,” has direct, and unfair access to the most essential workings of government, that his competitors do not enjoy.
Nor should they.
So what we have, at this moment, is effectively Elon’s coup d’état. An unelected person penetrating the most secure buildings, removing security, and officials tasked with stopping such a person, and taking over the government, by force.
WTF, Elon? Trump?!
More importantly, who the hell does Trump think he is? Everyone in government is sworn to protect and defend the CONSTITUTION, not the Dear Leader. Musk buying a narrow win for Trump, to keep his sorry ass out of jail, is being repaid by the White House with access to the most sensitive, and classified areas of government, that is clearly beyond the scope of an “advisor,” posing as a mock agency.
Tuesday, the interim U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia, Ed Martin, stated that his office would pursue legal action against anyone attempting to impede DOGE's work.
Attorney Generals: Wake the F**k Up.
Since the Justice Department is clearly compromised, it is up to states’ Attorney Generals to file suit against the federal government to remove this fascist cancer on Constitutional government from the White House.
What could the AG’s do? Recall that states were given significant power, to protect against federal overreach. During the first Trump Administration, Democratic AGs sued the federal government over one-hundred times, for issues that ranged from the travel ban, to environmental policies.
The Trump Administration could be sued to shutter DOGE permanently by:
Forcing Trump to make it conform to standards for government agencies, by challenging his EO as a violation of the Separation of Powers.
No loose-cannon billionaires;
Transparency and accountability;
Defined rules, procedures, and objectives.
Suing to enforce compliance for :
Violation of Federal Records Laws;
mishandling government records.
Privacy & Data Concerns: If Musk’s team has unauthorized access to state residents' personal data, through federal payment systems, AGs could claim harm to their citizens.
Yet that is nowhere on the horizon.
Congressional Democrats are Useless
One of the reasons is that, other than a lot of “concern,” both Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries have done precious little to stop Trump’s fascist steamrolling of our democracy.
Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Representatives Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) and Ilhan Omar (D-WI) have all sounded the alarm bell about a “plutocratic coup,” but, thus far, other than some hand wringing, there is no concrete, active plan to stop Musk and Trump’s gross violations of laws and norms.
Unions Have Awoken
A few hours ago, the Alliance for Retired Americans, the American Federation of Government Employees, and the Service Employees International Union, brought suit against the federal government and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.
Bessent, recently confirmed as Treasury Secretary, ousted the official in charge of the BFS, over the weekend, when he refused to provide Musk and DOGE access to some of the most sensitive information at Treasury.
Major Public Interest Groups
CBS News reported that National Security Counselors, a public interest law firm alleges that DOGE is violating the Federal Advisory Committee Act. DOGE does not adhere to transparency and disclosure requirements mandated for governmental advisory entities.
The ACLU, which normally stands at the forefront of defending Americans from this kind of overreach, have been uniquely silent.
The Public
On February 3, 2025, furloughed employees, and contractors, gathered outside the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) headquarters in Washington, D.C., to protest the agency's potential shutdown, after the Trump administration, moved to dismantle USAID, with Musk's support, leading to staff being locked out of their offices.
This, and a protest at the Office of Personnel Management have been very small. Americans, complacent with eighty years since the last defeat of fascism, at the end of WWII, are not turning out in the streets en-masse other than for immigration, yet.
Not Mad Enough Yet?
Watching DOGE dismantle more obscure organizations, within the government, may not “read” to the TikTok generation. It must, though. This is fascism, bulldozing its way into the government that serves us all.
No public servant, from the administrators of the $6 Trillion that was approved by the Congress for payout, to the FBI officer who did their job investigating the J6 criminals, should be fired for doing their jobs! To be dismissed, because they refuse to knuckle under to Elon Musk and this DOGE thugs?
DOGE and Musk must be rooted out of our democracy.
We are at war, with the enemy within. Support elected officials resisting. Demand the ACLU, Common Cause, and your politicians actively work to demand change from Trump. We’ve seen what happens when people howl about slashing important programs.
It stops.
Organize. Protest. Win.
Our great country also
Exceptionally relevant and useful. Thank you for sharing. So much work to do but it’s where we are … again.