America’s Chief Xecutive Officer

“There is no precedent for a government official to have Mr. Musk’s scale of conflicts of interest, which include domestic holdings and foreign connections such as business relationships in China. And there is no precedent for someone who is not a full-time employee to have such ability to reshape the federal work force. The historian Douglas Brinkley described Mr. Musk as a ‘lone ranger’ with limitless running room. He noted that the billionaire was operating ‘beyond scrutiny,’ saying: ‘There is not one single entity holding Musk accountable. It’s a harbinger of the destruction of our basic institutions.'” NYT (Gift Article): Inside Musk’s Aggressive Incursion Into the Federal Government.

+ “A 25-year-old DOGE operative named Marko Elez in fact has admin privileges on these critical systems, which directly control and pay out roughly 95% of payments made by the U.S. government, including Social Security checks, tax refunds and virtually all contract payments.” TPM: Musk Cronies Dive Into Treasury Dept Payments Code Base.

+ “Elon Musk’s influence appears unchecked, triggering cries of alarm from those who worry about conflicts of interest, security clearances, and a broad, ill-defined mandate. But the Republican-controlled Congress has shown no desire so far to rein Musk in. There has never been a private citizen like him.” Jonathan Lemire in The Atlantic (Gift Article): Elon Musk Is President. (But even a president doesn’t have the power to do what he’s doing.)

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