Billionaire Elon Musk is tightening his control over broad swaths of the United States government at extraordinary speed, prompting growing alarm from Democrats and constitutional scholars.
In the two weeks since US President Donald Trump’s inauguration, Musk, the head of the so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), has upended the federal bureaucracy, prompting questions about the scope of his authority and warnings of a constitutional crisis, or even a coup.
Acting without oversight of the US Congress, Musk’s lieutenants have brought the work of the US’s main foreign aid agency to a halt, flagged millions of government employees for redundancy, gained access to classified material and sensitive details about millions of Americans, and taken control of the payment system that manages the flow of trillions of dollars of government spending.
Musk, who was named as a “special government employee” by the White House on Monday, does not hold elected office and is not part of Trump’s Cabinet, whose members must undergo confirmation by the US Senate.
“I’ve never ever seen anything like this, never in the history of the country. We always have the president, Cabinet members and the Treasury secretary confirmed by the Senate,” Richard Painter, who served as the chief White House ethics lawyer in the administration of former President George W Bush, told Al Jazeera.
“Cabinet members are installed by the president, they coordinate with the White House to implement policy. You can’t just not spend money appropriated by Congress.”
As the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, Musk, the world’s richest man, has billions of dollars worth of government contracts with multiple agencies.
“Special government employees”, who are typically appointed on a temporary basis, are subject to “most” ethics rules that apply to ordinary government employees, “although sometimes in a less restrictive way,” according to a Department of Justice summary.
Under the law, they are restricted from “participating in matters” that affect their financial interests and “may” be required to submit a financial disclosure report within 30 days of assuming a position, according to the summary.
“Only the justice department can enforce this statute,” Kathleen Clark, a law professor at Washington University who specializes in government ethics, told Al Jazeera.
“And it is reasonable to question whether Trump’s Justice Department will enforce the law against a Trump ally like Musk.”
On Monday, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said he had taken over as acting director of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), which Musk had labelled a “criminal organisation”.
Hours later, Musk appeared to confirm reports that his task force had taken control of the US Treasury payments system, which manages the transfer of funds on behalf of the entire federal government.
“The only way to stop fraud and waste of taxpayer money is to follow the payment flows and pause suspicious transactions for review. Obviously,” Musk said in a post on social media platform X.
“Naturally, this causes those who have been aiding, abetting and receiving fraudulent payments very upset. Too bad.”
On Monday, a group of unions representing government workers filed a lawsuit against the Treasury Department and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent alleging that DOGE’s access to the payments unlawfully compromised the privacy of millions of Americans.
“Secretary Bessent’s action granting DOGE-affiliated individuals full, continuous, and ongoing access to that information for an unspecified period of time means that retirees, taxpayers, federal employees, companies, and other individuals from all walks of life have no assurance that their information will receive the protection that federal law affords,” said the complaint, filed by The Alliance for Retired Americans, the American Federation of Government Employees and the Service Employees International Union.
“And because Defendants’ actions and decisions are shrouded in secrecy, individuals will not have even basic information about what personal or financial information that Defendants are sharing with outside parties or how their information is being used.”
In a news conference, Chuck Schumer, the Democratic leader in the Senate, said that the US was witnessing the “hostile takeover of the federal government” by an “unelected shadow government”.
New York House Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez accused Musk of orchestrating a “plutocratic coup”.
“If you want the power, run for office and be chosen by the people,” Ocasio-Cortez said on X.
Michael J Gerhardt, a professor who specialises in constitutional law at the University of North Carolina School of Law, said that Musk’s influence over the government was undemocratic and possibly unconstitutional.
“This is perhaps the first time ever someone from outside the government has been so openly given free rein within,” Gerhardt told Al Jazeera.
“There is no mechanism for keeping Elon Musk in check.”
“He has whatever power Trump lets him have,” Gerhardt added. “Given his position, the only bounds on his authority is Trump himself.”
Speaking to reporters at the Oval Office of the White House, Trump said that Musk “can’t” and “won’t” do anything without the approval of his administration.
“We will give him the approval where appropriate. Where not appropriate, we won’t. He reports in,” Trump said.
“Where we think there’s a conflict or a problem, we won’t let him go near it,” Trump added.
Gerhardt, the law professor, said that while the presence of “powers behind the throne” was not new in US politics, Musk’s influence over the government showed an unprecedented disregard for the law.
“There has been corruption associated with nearly every presidency in American history, but Musk is brazenly defying and disregarding the laws that govern how government functions,” Gerhardt said.
