Efficiency − Or Empire? How Elon Musk’s Hostile Takeover Could End Government as We Know It

Elon Musk speaks at an indoor Presidential Inauguration parade event in Washington, Monday, Jan. 20, 2025.
Elon Musk speaks at an indoor Presidential Inauguration parade event in Washington, Monday, Jan. 20, 2025.
Matt Rourke/AP
Share
Elon Musk speaks at an indoor Presidential Inauguration parade event in Washington, Monday, Jan. 20, 2025.
Elon Musk speaks at an indoor Presidential Inauguration parade event in Washington, Monday, Jan. 20, 2025.
Matt Rourke/AP
Efficiency − Or Empire? How Elon Musk’s Hostile Takeover Could End Government as We Know It
Copy

Elon Musk’s role as the head of the Department of Government Efficiency, also known as DOGE, is on the surface a dramatic effort to overhaul the inefficiencies of federal bureaucracy. But beneath the rhetoric of cost-cutting and regulatory streamlining lies a troubling scenario.

Musk has been appointed what is called a “special government employee” in charge of the White House office formerly known as the U.S. Digital Service, which was renamed the U.S. DOGE Service on the first day of President Donald Trump’s second term. The Musk team’s purported goals are to maximize efficiency and to eliminate waste and redundancy.

That might sound like a bold move toward Silicon Valley-style innovation in governance. However, the deeper motivations driving Musk’s involvement are unlikely to be purely altruistic.

Read the rest of this article on The Conversation.

The newly elected party chair outlines his strategy for expanding state GOP ranks and weighs in on energy costs, immigration enforcement and election integrity
For $10, the Rhode Island Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals’ cats will quite literally do their business on a pink paper heart bearing your chosen name
A new report details how the state aims to build an AI-ready workforce, modernize government, and stay competitive
Roger Williams Medical Center and Our Lady of Fatima hang in the balance
More than 9 million students had school disrupted by climate change last year. Researchers at Brown University have launched the SustainableED initiative to study what rising temperatures will mean for our education system
Protestors gather in subfreezing temperatures to ‘unwelcome’ U.S. defense secretary