"A private citizen with zero Constitutional authority is effectively seizing control of critical government functions. 🚨
The Constitution explicitly requires Senate confirmation for anyone wielding significant federal power — a requirement Musk has simply ignored"
techdirt.com/2025/01/31/elons-…
Here’s a thread with links to articles about the #ElonMusk takeover of the US #government.
Is it a #coup? Will anyone stop it?
#Oligarchy #Politics #USPol #Musk #Trump #GOP #News #USA #US #USNews
Elon’s Twitter Destruction Playbook Hits The US Government, And It’s Even More Dangerous
Remember how Elon Musk destroyed Twitter by ripping apart its infrastructure without understanding it? Now imagine that same playbook applied to the federal government. It’s happening, and th…Techdirt
Zhi Zhu 🕸️
in reply to Zhi Zhu 🕸️ • • •Musk's Junta Establishes Him as Head of Government:
Imagining how we'd cover overseas what's happening to the #US right now
doomsdayscenario.co/p/musk-s-j…
"What started Thursday as a political purge of the internal security services accelerated Friday into a full-blown #coup, as elite technical units aligned with #media oligarch #ElonMusk moved to seize key systems at the national treasury, block outside access to federal personnel records, & take offline governmental communication networks."
#News
Musk's Junta Establishes Him as Head of Government
Doomsday ScenarioZhi Zhu 🕸️
in reply to Zhi Zhu 🕸️ • • •Elon Musk Lackeys Have Taken Over the Office of Personnel Management:
Sources tell WIRED that the OPM’s top layers of management now include individuals linked to xAI, Neuralink, the Boring Company, & Palantir. One expert found the takeover reminiscent of Stalin.
wired.com/story/elon-musk-lack…
"Last week, federal employees... received emails encouraging them to turn in colleagues who they believed to be working on diversity, equity, inclusion"
#ElonMusk #Musk #Coup #USA #Government #Tech #DEI #News
Elon Musk Lackeys Have Taken Over the Office of Personnel Management
Vittoria Elliott (WIRED)Zhi Zhu 🕸️
in reply to Zhi Zhu 🕸️ • • •Exclusive: Musk aides lock government workers out of computer systems at US agency, sources say
reuters.com/world/us/musk-aide…
"Aides to #ElonMusk charged with running the US #government human resources agency have locked career civil servants out of computer systems that contain the personal data of millions of federal employees...
"We have no visibility into what they are doing with the computer and data systems," one of the officials said."
#Musk #Coup #Trump #Politics #Tech #Security #News #USA
Zhi Zhu 🕸️
in reply to Zhi Zhu 🕸️ • • •Elon Musk’s Team Now Has Access to Treasury’s Payments System:
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent gave Musk’s representatives at the so-called Department of Government Efficiency a powerful tool to monitor and potentially limit government spending.
nytimes.com/2025/02/01/us/poli…
"DOGE teams have begun demanding access to #data and systems at other federal agencies, but none of those agencies control the flow of #money in the way the #Treasury Department does"
#ElonMusk #Coup #Politics #Trump #News #US
Zhi Zhu 🕸️
in reply to Zhi Zhu 🕸️ • • •Elon Musk Is Trying to Get Control of Key Payment System—at Any Cost:
A top Treasury official plans to resign after a fight with Elon Musk’s allies over access to a sensitive payment system.
newrepublic.com/post/190983/to…
Senior U.S. official exits after rift with Musk allies over payment system:
A top Treasury career staffer, David A. Lebryk, announced his retirement. Surrogates of Musk’s DOGE effort had sought access to sensitive payment systems.
washingtonpost.com/business/20…
#ElonMusk #Musk #Coup #News
Elon Musk Is Trying to Get Control of Key Payment System—at Any Cost
The New RepublicZhi Zhu 🕸️
in reply to Zhi Zhu 🕸️ • • •Trump and Elon Musk Just Pulled Off Another Purge—and It’s a Scary One:
Did Musk’s alleged effort to access the government’s payment systems have Trump’s blessing? Or was he going rogue? Either scenario is bad, but one’s a little worse.
newrepublic.com/article/191014…
"the move could potentially give #DOGE the power to turn off all kinds of #government payments in a targeted way... Turn off government payments previously authorized by #Congress."
#ElonMusk #Coup #Trump #Politics #Money #News #US #USA
Trump and Elon Musk Just Pulled Off Another Purge—and It’s a Scary One
The New RepublicZhi Zhu 🕸️
in reply to Zhi Zhu 🕸️ • • •Elon Musk’s Friends Have Infiltrated Another Government Agency:
Elon Musk’s former employees are trying to use White House credentials to access General Services Administration tech, giving them the potential to remote into laptops, read emails, and more, sources say.
wired.com/story/elon-musk-lack…
"Elon Musk’s minions... have taken over the General Services Administration, a critical #government agency that manages federal offices and #technology."
#Tech #Musk #ElonMusk #Coup #News #USA #US #USNews
Elon Musk’s Friends Have Infiltrated the General Services Administration
Makena Kelly (WIRED)Zhi Zhu 🕸️
in reply to Zhi Zhu 🕸️ • • •Elon Musk is reportedly taking control of the inner workings of US government agencies
techcrunch.com/2025/01/31/elon…
Elon Musk Is Running the Twitter Playbook on the Federal Government:
The US Office of Personnel Management is telling federal workers to get in line—or get out.
wired.com/story/elon-musk-twit…
#ElonMusk #Musk #Coup #Trump #GOP #Government #OPM #Treasury #GSA #US #USA #Politics #USPol #News #USNews #USGovernment #USGov
Elon Musk Is Running the Twitter Playbook on the Federal Government
Zoë Schiffer (WIRED)Zhi Zhu 🕸️
in reply to Zhi Zhu 🕸️ • • •Federal Employees Sue Agency Over New Email System Allegedly Linked to Elon Musk:
The litigation shows concerns within the government over Musk's growing influence.
gizmodo.com/federal-employees-…
"federal employees have sued the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), alleging that a newly circulated email system is actually linked to #ElonMusk...
the email system presents illegal privacy risks to employees."
#Tech #Technology #Email #Privacy #Musk #Trump #Coup #Government #Politics #Purge #News
Federal Employees Sue Agency Over New Email System Allegedly Linked to Elon Musk
Lucas Ropek (Gizmodo)Zhi Zhu 🕸️
in reply to Zhi Zhu 🕸️ • • •NTSB forces reporters to get plane crash updates on X:
The agency says it will no longer notify reporters about plane crash press briefings via email.
thedesk.net/2025/02/ntsb-moves…
"the federal agency... said #news organizations and reporters will have to follow the agency’s official account on X [ #Twitter]...
The #NTSB did not say why it was choosing to post information about #PublicSafety matters exclusively on X, a private #SocialMedia platform owned by #technology mogul #ElonMusk"
#Coup #US
NTSB forces reporters to get plane crash updates on X
Matthew Keys (The Desk)Zhi Zhu 🕸️
in reply to Zhi Zhu 🕸️ • • •[In answer to the above question, see below]
Elon Musk donated $288 million in 2024 election, final tally shows:
The official count of Musk’s donations further cemented him as the country’s largest — and most prominent — donor.
washingtonpost.com/politics/20…
"he [ #Musk] has amassed an extraordinary amount of power as a member of Trump’s inner circle — and as he is decried by critics as a de facto, unelected co-president."
#ElonMusk #Coup #Trump #Politics #Corruption #Government #US #USA #News
Zhi Zhu 🕸️
in reply to Zhi Zhu 🕸️ • • •DOGE Will Allow Elon Musk to Surveil the US Government From the Inside:
A former USDS employee called the repurposing of the Digital Service into DOGE an “A+ bureaucratic jiujitsu move.” It will give Musk and his associates access to unclassified data in every government agency.
wired.com/story/doge-elon-musk…
"Musk emerged as one of the president’s most important financial backers... Additionally, he used the power of his own celebrity to drum up support for #Trump both online & off"
#Corruption #US
DOGE Will Allow Elon Musk to Surveil the US Government From the Inside
Vittoria Elliott (WIRED)Zhi Zhu 🕸️
in reply to Zhi Zhu 🕸️ • • •"Wyden Demands Answers Following Report of Musk Personnel Seeking Access to Highly Sensitive U.S. Treasury Payments System:
In New Letter to Treasury Secretary Bessent, Wyden Warns That Political Meddling in Treasury Payments Risks Severe Economic Damage, Calls Out Dangerous Conflicts of Interest Stemming from Elon Musk’s Close Business Ties to the Chinese Government
finance.senate.gov/chairmans-n…
#ElonMusk #Treasury #Coup #Musk #China #Corruption #Trump #Politics #Economy #Security #US #USA
Wyden Demands Answers Following Report of Musk Personnel Seeking Access to Highly Sensitive U.S. Treasury Payments System | The United States Senate Committee on Finance
www.finance.senate.govZhi Zhu 🕸️
in reply to Zhi Zhu 🕸️ • • •Who Can Stop Elon’s ‘Team’ Wilding Its Way Through the Federal Government?
talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/w…
"There’s mounting evidence that even more than we know is being directed by #ElonMusk and his private-sector employees, who are now fanned out across the #government. He appears to have taken control of the federal payment system...
also taken control of some portion of the federal agency computer systems, allowing his operatives to lock federal workers out of key computer systems."
#Coup #USA
Who Can Stop Elon’s ‘Team’ Wilding Its Way Through the Federal Government?
Josh Marshall (TPM - Talking Points Memo)Zhi Zhu 🕸️
in reply to Zhi Zhu 🕸️ • • •"Government #Tech Workers Forced to Defend Projects to Random Elon Musk Bros:
A recent high school graduate & former Neuralink intern has joined meetings to review lines of code & other work history of career public servants, sparking chaos at a major #government agency.
wired.com/story/elon-musk-gove…
"The recent installation of #ElonMusk ally Thomas Shedd atop the federal #IT structure has thrown an agency in charge of servicing much of the #US govt’s technical #infrastructure into disarray"
#News
Government Tech Workers Forced to Defend Projects to Random Elon Musk Bros
Makena Kelly (WIRED)Zhi Zhu 🕸️
in reply to Zhi Zhu 🕸️ • • •Musk’s DOGE Brings in HR Consultant Focused on ‘Non-Woke’ DEI 'Aligned With Our Faith’:
“It’s simply just a non-woke version, offering employers an alternative approach to diversity and inclusion.”
404media.co/musks-doge-brings-…
"consultant who has spent the last few years teaching companies her “refreshing approach to diversity & inclusion” which include attempting to “redefine” #DEI in a manner that she says is more consistent with Christianity"
#ElonMusk #Fascism #Christofascism #Trump #Coup #US
Musk’s DOGE Brings in HR Consultant Focused on ‘Non-Woke’ DEI 'Aligned With Our Faith’
Jason Koebler (404 Media)Zhi Zhu 🕸️
in reply to Zhi Zhu 🕸️ • • •Things are going even worse than I expected:
On our unelected President Elon Musk, and mourning the loss of foreclosed potential futures.
davekarpf.substack.com/p/thing…
"Elon #Musk has, for all practical purposes, seized control of the #US Administrative State. If he follows the same course of action he favored during the #Twitter takeover, he is likely to simply stop having the #government pay for things he doesn’t think it should pay for...
This is all flatly illegal."
#ElonMusk #Coup #Crime #USA
Things are going even worse than I expected
Dave Karpf (The Future, Now and Then)Zhi Zhu 🕸️
in reply to Zhi Zhu 🕸️ • • •Senior USAID security officials put on leave after refusing Musk’s DOGE access to agency systems
cnn.com/2025/02/02/politics/us…
"Personnel from the Musk-created office physically tried to access the #USAID headquarters in #WashingtonDC, and were stopped.
The DOGE personnel demanded to be let in and threatened to call US Marshals to be allowed access
...wanted to gain access to security systems and personnel files... classified information."
#Musk #Coup #Fascism #Trump #Politics #US #News #Press
Zhi Zhu 🕸️
in reply to Zhi Zhu 🕸️ • • •Musk team given access to sensitive federal payment system - reports
bbc.com/news/articles/c77rkg5d…
"The access to the payment system was granted on Friday, the same day when a longtime #Treasury official named David Lebryk was put on administrative leave and suddenly retired...
Lebryk had strongly resisted allowing Musk's lieutenants into the department's payment system...
#Musk... is not officially a government employee"
#ElonMusk #Coup #Trump #Politics #Government #News #US #USA
Musk team given access to sensitive federal payment system - reports
Kayla Epstein (BBC News)Zhi Zhu 🕸️
in reply to Zhi Zhu 🕸️ • • •The Young, Inexperienced Engineers Aiding Elon Musk’s Government Takeover:
Engineers between 19 and 24, most linked to Musk’s companies, are playing a key role as he seizes control of federal infrastructure.
wired.com/story/elon-musk-gove…
"six young men—all apparently between the ages of 19 & 24... who have little to no #government experience and ...have taken control of the... #OPM and... #GSA, and have gained access to the #Treasury Department’s payment system"
#ElonMusk #Coup #Musk #Politics #US
The Young, Inexperienced Engineers Aiding Elon Musk’s Government Takeover
Vittoria Elliott (WIRED)Zhi Zhu 🕸️
in reply to Zhi Zhu 🕸️ • • •A New Kind of Coup: Trump and Musk are Updating the Autocratic Playbook:
The assault on our democracy seen through the lens of authoritarian practice
lucid.substack.com/p/a-new-kin…
"We are living through a new kind of coup in which #ElonMusk, the richest man in the world, has taken over the payment and other administration systems that allow the American #government to function, and has locked out federal employees from computer systems."
#Musk #Coup #Trump #Fascism #Politics #USPol #USA #US
A New Kind of Coup: Trump and Musk are Updating the Autocratic Playbook
Ruth Ben-Ghiat (Lucid)Zhi Zhu 🕸️
in reply to Zhi Zhu 🕸️ • • •Elon Musk says President Donald Trump has ‘agreed’ USAID should be shut down
apnews.com/article/doge-musk-t…
"the administration placed two top security chiefs at #USAID on leave after they refused to turn over classified material in restricted areas to Musk’s government-inspection teams...
Musk’s DOGE crew lacked high enough security clearance to access that information"
#ElonMusk #Coup #Musk #Trump #Politics #Government #US #USA #News #USNews
USAID security chiefs put on leave after trying to keep DOGE from classified info
ELLEN KNICKMEYER (AP News)Zhi Zhu 🕸️
in reply to Zhi Zhu 🕸️ • • •Musk associates given unfettered access to private data of government employees:
The Musk-connected political hires include two recent high school graduates
muskwatch.com/p/musk-associate…
"OPM staffers received an email from the agency’s new leadership instructing them to give Musk’s team “access [to] the system as an admin user" and "code read and write permissions."
...which means they can make updates to anything that they want"
#Tech #ElonMusk #Coup #Musk #Trump #Politics #Government #US #News
Musk associates given unfettered access to private data of government employees
Caleb Ecarma (Musk Watch)Zhi Zhu 🕸️
in reply to Zhi Zhu 🕸️ • • •Federal Workers Block Doors of Admin Building Over Elon Musk Data Breach
dcmediagroup.us/2025/02/02/fed…
"There is no way to determine what they [ #Musk & minions] are doing w/the systems or its vast trove of databases...
A massive intrusion of this scale taken against a system of secure #government computer networks is unprecedented"
#Tech #Coup #ElonMusk #Trump #Crime #Politics #USPol #US #USA #News #USNews
Federal Workers Block Doors of Admin Building Over Elon Musk Data Breach - DCMediaGroup
John Zangas (DC Media Group)Zhi Zhu 🕸️
in reply to Zhi Zhu 🕸️ • • •The War at Home:
Elon Musk and The Security State's Uvalde Moment:
“We have a Constitutional crisis, period," says NSA whistleblower Tom Drake, who can't help but notice how the three-letter agencies that went after him aren't stopping this
forever-wars.com/elon-musk-and…
"The danger to the #Constitution is running amok inside govt buildings. But the #Security State stands outside, deterred, & will present any number of rationalizations about how this isn't their job."
#ElonMusk #Musk #Coup #News #US
Elon Musk and The Security State's Uvalde Moment
Spencer Ackerman (FOREVER WARS)Zhi Zhu 🕸️
in reply to Zhi Zhu 🕸️ • • •Why Write About the Illegality of What Trump and Musk are Doing?
buttondown.com/sbagen/archive/…
"I know the #law won’t “save us” from #Trump. We’re going to have to save ourselves. But the law is one among many tools that will prove important in that struggle. And I think it’s important that those of us who work in the law continue to explain Trump’s violations of the law."
#ElonMusk #Coup #Musk #DonaldTrump #Crime #GOP #Politics #US #USA
Why Write About the Illegality of What Trump and Musk are Doing?
Inside/OutsideZhi Zhu 🕸️
in reply to Zhi Zhu 🕸️ • • •The Media Is Missing the Story: Elon Musk Is Staging a Coup:
As the world's richest man seizes control of government agencies, mainstream outlets are treating it like standard political news
readtpa.com/p/the-media-is-mis…
" #ElonMusk — a man no one elected to any office — has gained unprecedented access to... payment systems, fired federal workers, shuttered entire agencies, & installed his loyalists throughout the govt. If this were happening in any other country, we'd call it what it is: a #coup"
The Media Is Missing the Story: Elon Musk Is Staging a Coup
Parker Molloy (The Present Age)Zhi Zhu 🕸️
in reply to Zhi Zhu 🕸️ • • •"Hitler actually had some good ideas": Musk's covert coup is guided by internet trolls:
Musk's illegal government takeover is scary on its own — but the people he's bringing along make it even worse
salon.com/2025/02/04/hitler-ac…
"Musk seems to believe he can ignore the legal authority of #Congress to control federal spending, & instead control all decisions on how to spend taxpayer money... functionally make #Musk a #dictator using the elected official, #Trump, as his figurehead."
#Coup #News #USA
Elon Musk's troll takeover is no joke
Salon.comZhi Zhu 🕸️
in reply to Zhi Zhu 🕸️ • • •What the Musk is Happening?
It’s a catastrophe, but what kind of catastrophe?
paulkrugman.substack.com/p/wha…
"What if the #Musk people — Muskovites? — try to muck with systems they don’t understand, believing that they’re super smart & can master everything with the help of a little #AI? It’s not hard to imagine the whole federal payments system — including, by the way, servicing of #federal debt — crashing.
So much damage — to #US credibility, to the #Constitution and... #government"
#Coup #News
What the Musk is Happening?
Paul KrugmanZhi Zhu 🕸️
in reply to Zhi Zhu 🕸️ • • •"unelected billionaire #ElonMusk, whose investment of $290 million in #Trump & other #Republican candidates in the 2024 election... bought him freedom to run the #government...
The replacement of our constitutional system of government with the whims of an unelected private citizen is a #coup. The US president has no authority to cut programs created & funded by #Congress, & a private citizen... has even less standing to try anything so radical."
heathercoxrichardson.substack.…
#Musk #Trump #Politics
February 3, 2025
Heather Cox Richardson (Letters from an American)Zhi Zhu 🕸️
in reply to Zhi Zhu 🕸️ • • •A 25-Year-Old With Elon Musk Ties Has Direct Access to the Federal Payment System
The Bureau of the Fiscal Service is a sleepy part of the Treasury Department. It’s also where, sources say, a 25-year-old engineer tied to Elon Musk has admin privileges over the code that controls Social Security payments, tax returns, & more.
wired.com/story/elon-musk-asso…
"Elez’s privileges include the ability not just to read but to write code on two of the most sensitive systems in the #US #government"
#Musk #Coup
A 25-Year-Old With Elon Musk Ties Has Direct Access to the Federal Payment System
Vittoria Elliott (WIRED)Zhi Zhu 🕸️
in reply to Zhi Zhu 🕸️ • • •Elon Musk Suggests Getting Rid Of All Regulations In Midnight Call:
"If it's not possible now, it'll never be possible," Musk said of his proposal to simply ignore all federal regulation as a baseline.
huffpost.com/entry/elon-musk-r…
“Regulations, basically, should be default gone,” Musk said. “Not default there, default gone. And if it turns out that we missed the mark on a regulation, we can always add it back in.”
#ElonMusk #Coup #Musk #Trump #GOP #Government #Politics #US #USA #News #USNews
Elon Musk Suggests Getting Rid Of All Regulations In Midnight Call
Matt Shuham (HuffPost)Zhi Zhu 🕸️
in reply to Zhi Zhu 🕸️ • • •Musk’s Takeover Of The Government’s Computer Systems Needs To Be Understood As A Cyberattack, Or Worse
techdirt.com/2025/02/03/musks-…
"These systems #Musk and his “team” have accessed are among the most sensitive and critical to the running of the #USA...
Yet here is Musk, a man who regularly chats with Vladimir #Putin, with access to it all, if not also outright control."
#ElonMusk #Coup #Tech #Technology #CyberSecurity #Security #NationalSecurity #Treasury #OPM #Russia #China #Trump #News #US
Musk’s Takeover Of The Government’s Computer Systems Needs To Be Understood As A Cyberattack, Or Worse
Techdirt