[Why is it dangerous and absurd? Let's start with] billionaire Elon Musk’s team that took control of the Treasury’s payment system; thus, essentially
gaining access to the checkbook with which the United States handles about $6
trillion annually and to all the financial information of Americans and American
businesses with it. Apparently, it did not stop there.
Ellen Knickmeyer of the
Associated Press reported that two top security officials from the
U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) tried to stop people
associated with Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, from accessing
classified information they did not have security clearance to see. The Trump
administration put the officials on leave, and the DOGE team gained access to
the information.
Vittoria Elliott of Wired has
identified those associated with Musk’s takeover as six “engineers who are
barely out of—and in at least one case, purportedly still in—college.” They are
connected either to Musk or to his long-time associate Peter Thiel, who backed
J.D. Vance’s Senate run eighteen months before he became Trump’s vice-presidential
running mate. Their names are Akash Bobba, Edward Coristine, Luke Farritor,
Gautier Cole Killian, Gavin Kliger, and Ethan Shaotran, and they have little to
no experience in government.
Public policy expert Dan Moynihan
told reporter Elliott that the fact these people “are not really public
officials” makes it hard for Congress to intervene. “So, this feels like a
hostile takeover of the machinery of governments by the richest man in the
world,” he said. Law professor Nick Bednar noted that “it is very unlikely”
that the engineers “have the expertise to understand either the law or the
administration needs that surround these agencies.”
After Musk’s team breached the
USAID computers, cybersecurity specialist Matthew Garrett posted: “Random
computers being plugged into federal networks is obviously terrifying in terms
of what data they're deliberately accessing, but it's also terrifying because
it implies controls are being disabled—unmanaged systems should never have
access to this data. Who else has access to those systems?”
USAID receives foreign policy
guidance from the State Department. Intelligence agencies must now assume U.S.
intelligence systems are insecure.
Musk’s response was to post:
“USAID is a criminal organization. Time for it to die.” Also last night,
according to Sam Stein of The Bulwark, “the majority of staff in
the legislative and public affairs bureau lost access to their emails, implying
they’ve been put on admin leave although this was never communicated to them.”
Congress established USAID in
1961 to bring together the many different programs that were administering
foreign aid. Focusing on long-term socioeconomic development, USAID has a
budget of more than $50 billion, less than 1% of the U.S. annual budget. It is
one of the largest aid agencies in the world.
Musk is unelected, and it appears
that DOGE has no legal authority. As political scientist Seth Masket put it
in tusk: “Elon Musk is not a federal employee, nor has he been
appointed by the President nor approved by the Senate to have any leadership
role in government.” The ‘Department of Government Efficiency,’ announced
by Trump in a January 20th executive order, is not truly any sort of government
department or agency, and even the executive order uses quotes in the title.
It’s perfectly fine to have a
marketing gimmick like this, but DOGE does not have power over
established government agencies, and Musk has no role in government. It does
not matter that he is an ally of the President. Musk is a private citizen
taking control of established government offices. That is not efficiency; that
is a coup.”
DOGE has simply taken over
government systems. Musk, using President Donald Trump’s name, is personally
deciding what he thinks should be cut from the U.S. government.
Musk reposted a social
media post from MAGA religious extremist General Mike Flynn, who resigned from
his position as Trump’s national security advisor in 2017 after pleading guilty
to secret conversations with a Russian agent—for which Trump pardoned him—and
who publicly embraced the QAnon conspiracy theory. In today’s post, Flynn
complained about “the ‘Lutheran’ faith” and, referring to federal grants
provided to Lutheran Family Services and affiliated organizations, said, “this
use of ‘religion’ as a money laundering operation must end.” Musk added: “The
[DOGE] team is rapidly shutting down these illegal payments.”
In fact, this is money
appropriated by Congress, and its payment is required by law. Republican
lawmakers have pushed government subsidies and grants toward religious
organizations for years, and Lutheran Social Services is one of the largest
employers in South Dakota, where it operates senior living facilities.
South Dakota is the home of
Senate majority leader John Thune, who has not been a strong Trump supporter,
as well as Homeland Security secretary nominee Kristi Noem. The news that DOGE
has taken over U.S. government computers is not the only bombshell this
weekend.
Another is that Trump has
declared a trade war with the top trading partners of the United States:
Mexico, Canada, and China. Although his first administration negotiated the
current trade agreement between the U.S., Mexico, and Canada, on Saturday Trump
broke the terms of that treaty.
He slapped tariffs of 25% on
goods coming from Mexico and Canada, tariffs of 10% on Canadian energy, and
tariffs of 10% on goods coming from China. He said he was doing so to force
Mexico and Canada to do more about undocumented migration and drug trafficking,
but while precursor chemicals to make fentanyl come from China and undocumented
migrants come over the southern border with Mexico, Canada accounts for only
about 1% of both. Further, Trump has diverted Immigration and Customs
Enforcement agents combating drug trafficking to his immigration sweeps.
As soon as he took office, Trump
designated Mexican drug cartels as foreign terrorist organizations, and on
Friday, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth responded that “all options will be
on the table” when a Fox News Channel host asked if the military will strike
within Mexico. Today Trump was clearer: he posted on social media that without
U.S. trade—which Trump somehow thinks is a “massive subsidy”— “Canada ceases to
exist as a viable Country. Harsh but true! Therefore, Canada should become our
Cherished 51st State. Much lower taxes, and far better military protection for
the people of Canada—AND NO TARIFFS!”
Trump inherited the best economy
in the world from his predecessor, President Joe Biden, but on Friday, as soon
as White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed that Trump would levy
the tariffs, the stock market plunged. Trump, who during his campaign insisted
that tariffs would boost the economy, today said that Americans could feel
“SOME PAIN” from them. He added “BUT WE WILL MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN, AND IT
WILL ALL BE WORTH THE PRICE THAT MUST BE PAID.” Tonight, stock market futures
dropped 450 points before trading opens tomorrow.
Mexican president Claudia
Sheinbaum wrote, “We categorically reject the White House’s slander that the
Mexican government has alliances with criminal organizations, as well as any
intention of meddling in our territory,” and has promised retaliatory tariffs.
China noted that it has been working with the U.S. to regulate precursor
chemicals since 2019 and said it would sue the U.S. before the World Trade
Organization.
Canada’s prime minister Justin
Trudeau announced more than $100 billion in retaliatory 25% tariffs and then
spoke directly to Americans. Echoing what economists have said all along,
Trudeau warned that tariffs would cost jobs, raise prices, and limit the
precious metals necessary for U.S. security. But then he turned from economics
to principles.
“As President John F. Kennedy
said many years ago,” Trudeau began, “geography has made us neighbors. History
has made us friends; economics has made us partners and necessity has made us
allies.” He noted that “from the beaches of Normandy to the mountains of the
Korean Peninsula, from the fields of Flanders to the streets of Kandahar,”
Canadians “have “fought and died alongside you.”
“During the summer of 2005, when
Hurricane Katrina ravaged your great city of New Orleans, or mere weeks ago
when we sent water bombers to tackle the wildfires in California. During the
day, the world stood still—Sept. 11, 2001—when we provided refuge to stranded
passengers and planes, we were always there, standing with you, grieving with
you, the American people.
“Together, we’ve built the most
successful economic, military and security partnership the world has ever seen.
A relationship that has been the envy of the world…. Unfortunately, the actions
taken today by the White House split us apart instead of bringing us together.”
Trudeau said Canada’s response
would “be far reaching and include everyday items such as American beer, wine
and bourbon, fruits and fruit juices, including orange juice, along with
vegetables, perfume, clothing and shoes.
It’ll include major consumer
products like household appliances, furniture and sports equipment, and
materials like lumber and plastics, along with much, much more. He assured
Canadians: “[W]e are all in this together. The Canadian government, Canadian businesses,
Canadian organized labor, Canadian civil society, Canada’s premiers, and tens
of millions of Canadians from coast to coast to coast are aligned and united.
This is Team Canada at its best.”
Canadian provincial leaders said
they were removing alcohol from Republican-dominated states, and Canadian
member of parliament Charlie Angus noted that the Liquor Control Board of
Ontario buys more wine by dollar value than any other organization in the world
and that Canada is the number one export market for Kentucky spirits. The
Liquor Control Board of Ontario has stopped all purchases of American beer,
wine, and spirits, turning instead to allies and local producers. Canada’s
Irving Oil, which provides heating oil to New England, has already told
customers that prices will reflect the tariffs.
In a riveting piece today, in
his Thinking about…, scholar of authoritarianism Timothy Snyder
wrote that “[t]he people who now dominate the executive branch of the
government…are acting, quite deliberately, to destroy the nation.” “Think of
the federal government as a car,” he wrote. “You might have thought that the
election was like getting the car serviced. Instead, when you come into the
shop, the mechanics, who somehow don’t look like mechanics, tell you that they
have taken the parts of your car that work and sold them and kept the money.
And that this was the most efficient thing to do. And that you should thank
them.”
On Friday, James E. Dennehy of
the FBI’s New York field office told his staff that they are “in a battle of
our own, as good people are being walked out of the F.B.I. and others are being
targeted because they did their jobs in accordance with the law and F.B.I.
policy.” He vowed that he, anyway, is going to “dig in.”
—Heather Cox Richardson
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