Elon Musk vowed yesterday to unilaterally cancel hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of government grants after he and his goons gained access to the Treasury Department’s vast payments system over the weekend.
The Treasury system disburses $5.4 trillion a year, or 88 percent of all federal payments, including social security checks. David Lebryk, who had spent more than 36 years in government and was responsible for overseeing the payments system — resigned abruptly Friday rather than turn over the system to Musk.
In short, the world’s richest man bankrolled Trump’s re-election campaign to the tune of some quarter of a billion dollars. In return, Trump tasked him with running a so-called “department of government efficiency,” and allowed him to get his hands on the keys to the kingdom.
But Musk hasn’t been confirmed by Congress. His “department” was never authorized by Congress. No one other than Trump has given Musk any authority. No one knows exactly who Musk’s goons are; they have not been vetted yet are handling some of the most sensitive personal information in the government.
Not even Trump has the authority to stop your Social Security payments, let alone your Medicare or Medicaid or unemployment insurance or your food stamp benefits.
Yet Musk and his goon squad assert they’re able to do so if they believe those payments are illegal.
Musk boasted on his social media site X that he was “rapidly shutting down . . . illegal payments.” But who is Musk to decide that a payment is illegal?
Musk’s boast came in response to a post on X by Mike Flynn, Trump’s disgraced former national security adviser, that contained a spreadsheet showing government payments to a number of Lutheran charities (which, by the way, are doing important work, and obtained the grants legally), Flynn claimed that the screenshots showed “there are MANY more organizations cashing in on our hard-earned money.”
But how did Flynn — who Trump pardoned in 2020 after Flynn pled guilty to lying about his contacts with Russians — obtain a screenshot of those government payments? And what else do Flynn, Musk, or any number of Trump insiders know about government payments made to any group or individual?
The conflicts of interest are wild. Musk’s own companies are government contractors that get paid through the Treasury’s payments system. Others contractors compete directly with Musk’s companies. Musk’s goons with ties to the tech sector could benefit financially from steering federal money this way or that,
And why in hell does Mike Flynn have this kind of access? After pleading guilty to a federal crime, Flynn has spent the last few years as the headliner for the ReAwaken America Tour (or RAT for short), a traveling carnival of MAGA politics, Trumpian “prophecies,” anti-vax rhetoric, COVID-19 conspiracies, and Christian Nationalistic messages of revenge against those who oppose Trump. A regular on the tour with Flynn was Kash Patel, Trump’s nominee to lead the FBI.
Other Musk goons have gained access to the U.S. Agency for International Development, following a clash with security officials over the weekend. They have effectively closed the agency.
Reminder: USAID is an independent organization whose independence is codified into law. “It’s a coup,” said a current USAID official. It was unclear when, if ever, the agency would be up and running again, the official added.
Last week, Musk’s goons locked career civil servants out of computer systems at the Office of Personnel Management containing personal data on millions of federal employees, including dates of birth, Social Security numbers, appraisals, home addresses, pay grades, and length of service.
Senior career employees at the Office of Personnel Management have had their access to some of the department’s data systems revoked.
The actions inside OPM make it harder for anyone outside Musk’s inner circle to know what’s going on.
Friends, this does seem like a coup. Offhand, I can think of at least eight federal laws that have been broken by Musk and his goons over the last few days, and at least two provisions of the U.S. Constitution.
Much of this occurred over the weekend. “Very few in the bureaucracy actually work the weekend, so it’s like the opposing team just leaves the field for 2 days!” Musk wrote on X on Saturday.
Hello? Musk’s “opposing team” works for you. Musk works for Trump and Musk.
Musk and his goon squad are riding roughshod over the institutions of our government, negating decisions that hav been made by Congress. They are trampling on our democracy, and getting information about you that they have no right to have.
Democratic lawmakers along with any Republican lawmakers who still possess a shred of integrity should immediately seek an injunction from the federal courts to stop this pillage.
Meanwhile, you might call your senators and representatives in Congress and tell them you don’t want Elon Musk messing with your Social Security or anything else. That number, again, is 202-224-3121.
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Robert Reich is a professor of public policy at Berkeley and former secretary of labor. His writings can be found at https://robertreich.substack.com/