Elon Musk’s rapid unscheduled disassembly of the US government

Virtually 250 years after the Declaration of Independence, America has gotten herself a brand new king. His identify is Elon Musk.

“Wait a minute,” it’s possible you’ll be saying. “What about President Donald Trump?” Trump ran, a lot like Silvio Berlusconi before him, primarily to keep away from prosecutions. He has by no means appreciated being president and he has already gotten what he desires. He’s not the ability middle. Musk is.

Consequently I cannot be bothering with no matter statements Katie Miller of DOGE and White Home Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt are placing out. All of us have eyes; we will see what’s going on. Musk has taken over the civilian government. This can be a billionaire pulling a heist on your entire nation.

Listed below are the issues Musk has installed his IT Renfields at:

All of us discovered in 2022, with the weaponization of SWIFT, that technical techniques are a supply of energy. By controlling the infrastructure, Musk controls the nation. The 2 most clearly important companies on that record are the Treasury, which controls the cash, and the Division of Power, which controls the nuclear secrets. Much less clearly important however equally troubling is the Common Companies Administration, which is successfully the infrastructure of the government itself.

The GSA, an company most of us have by no means had to consider, is in command of buildings, certain. But additionally it runs an terrible lot of the technical infrastructure of the federal government — it’s principally the feds’ IT. If the US authorities have been a mind, the GSA is the mind stem, the half that manages heartbeats and respiration in order that they’re beneath the extent of ideas.

“That is the biggest knowledge breach and the biggest IT safety breach in our nation’s historical past—not less than that’s publicly identified,” a contractor who’s labored on classified systems at government agencies told The Atlantic.

Right here’s the threat intelligence team at the Treasury, as reported by Wired, simply to underline the seriousness of Musk’s entry: “We additional advocate that DOGE members be positioned underneath insider menace monitoring and alerting after their entry to cost techniques is revoked. Continued entry to any cost techniques by DOGE members, even ‘learn solely,’ probably poses the one best insider menace danger the Bureau of the Fiscal Service has ever confronted.” After The Washington Post inquired about that memo, the one that wrote it was ”eliminated” by contractor Booz Allen. However a second warning memo was additionally despatched by a Treasury insider, warning of dangers from DOGE.

Decide Paul Englemayer granted a temporary restraining order to 19 states looking for to halt Musk and crew’s entry to the Treasury techniques. Englemayer wrote that the states would expertise “irreparable hurt within the absence of injunctive aid.” Why? “Each due to the danger that the brand new coverage presents of the disclosure of delicate and confidential data and the heightened danger that the techniques in query will likely be extra susceptible than earlier than to hacking,” he wrote.

Incredible. That is an company that controls $5 trillion, and incorporates delicate private data for — amongst others — American spies overseas. It’s additionally, by the way in which, tax season. And now Trump says that “we have less debt than we thought of?” Boy, that appears like a enjoyable new option to default on a mortgage. It’s a terrifying prospect in case you are a finance-knower: US bonds are the most secure belongings on this planet, not less than for now, and making them dangerous shakes the inspiration of the worldwide monetary system. Alternatively, Trump may simply be saying shit once more.

Oh, certain, sure, there are those challenges in the courts to Musk’s entry to the Treasury, and to shutting down USAID, which can properly have been illegal. Right here’s the factor: Musk doesn’t care about legal guidelines. Keep in mind when he was meant to receive a “Twitter sitter” after the time he pretended he needed to take Tesla personal? The courts ordered one. It has by no means appeared. Or perhaps we must always speak concerning the depositions he hasn’t shown up for. Or all the federal government requests to repair Tesla’s so-called Autopilot that he’s ignored. And given the mendacity concerning the Treasury entry, I don’t assume we will rule out the chance that Musk and co. merely lie underneath oath. He’s additionally obtained himself a cadre of elite lawyers, two of whom clerked for conservative Supreme Courtroom justices, to argue for him in courtroom.

So it’s no actual shock that he’s posting stuff on X that signifies he isn’t taking the courtroom order to again away from the Treasury critically. “Corrupt judges defending corruption,” Musk wrote of the court order. Congressman Darrell Issa wrote that he was “instantly introducing laws subsequent week to cease these rogue judges,” which Musk quoted with American flag emoji. Vice President JD Vance, the nation’s highest-ranking kiss-ass, wrote on X, “Judges aren’t allowed to manage the chief’s professional energy.” Vance has all the time been within the operating to be Yale Legislation College’s most embarrassing graduate, a aggressive endeavor; calling for a coup in violation of his oath of workplace and a primary understanding of the Structure just about cements him on the prime of the record.

Are we nonetheless a nation of legal guidelines? Is anybody checking to see if the courtroom order will likely be adopted? About the one issues Musk hasn’t taken over are the army and legislation enforcement. What occurs if he clearly ignores a courtroom order, and the courtroom points a warrant for his arrest? Does home legislation enforcement facet with the courtroom or with Musk?

No matter Musk’s private contempt for the legislation, there’s additionally the very fact of the January sixth pardons, which despatched a transparent message: breaking the legislation is okay, so long as Trump thinks it’s okay. And since Trump is successfully Musk’s puppet, Musk has carte blanche. Probably the most these courtroom orders may do is give cowl to staffers at these departments to disclaim Musk’s group entry to the issues they need. After all, we already know these staffers may be fired and changed.

What has our Congress been as much as whereas this hostile takeover of our authorities has been occurring in plain sight? Nicely, the Democrats are nonetheless writing strongly worded letters, and displaying up at protests, and permitting glorified mall cops to show them away from the departments Musk has already conquered. The closest they’ve come to motion is Senator Cory Booker’s threat of a debt default or authorities shutdown. The Republicans… except for those vociferously approving of Musk usurping their control over the nation’s spending, they appear to be Milford Men. They’re able to make a horse a consul.

Musk is now flexing his energy. After his staffer Marko Elez resigned for saying he “was racist earlier than it was cool,” Musk put up a ballot on X, the go-to groyper platform, asking if Elez must be reinstated. As of this writing, the reply was “sure.” Elez had read and write access to the Treasury’s techniques.

Ought to Elez come again? Native lapdog Vance thinks so! (Certain appears like Vance is taking orders from Musk somewhat than the opposite means round.) Musk then posted that Elez “will likely be introduced again.” That does somewhat make it clear who’s in cost, doesn’t it?

So now that Musk has management of the center of the federal government, let’s take into account his terribly reckless historical past with funds and IT techniques. When Musk was operating the corporate that will turn out to be PayPal, it had what his coworker and buddy Peter Thiel referred to as “a runaway fraud downside.” When Thiel thought about writing a book about the experience, he mentioned he’d title the Musk chapter “The Man Who Knew Nothing about Danger.”

This may occasionally clarify why Musk has employed Edward Coristine, who was fired from a cybersecurity firm for “leaking inner data to the opponents,” in response to an inner message reported by Bloomberg. Oh, and likewise he’s on a watch record for federal cybercrime enforcement, and labored at a startup with convicted hackers. Now, in fact, he’s obtained entry to our authorities’s inner techniques. Neat! Additionally there’s Gavin Kliger, who seems to have his own interest in white supremacy. It’s unclear what he does on the Workplace of Personnel Administration, however he most likely shouldn’t be in that constructing in any respect.

No surprise they’re hiding from the regular USDS employees.

This type of sloppiness is sensible for these of us who followed Musk’s Twitter takeover. Musk has an actual curiosity in shifting quick and breaking issues, with an emphasis on breaking issues. As an example, there’s the time a “bug” restored deleted tweets. Or that point private tweets were made public. Or the older photos that no longer displayed.

Now, think about this on the Treasury, with a bunch of youngsters who don’t know COBOL toying with the techniques. Even a slight bug can fuck up trillions of {dollars} — throughout tax season. I don’t wish to take into consideration what occurs with a bug within the code at DoE, as a result of one attainable reply is a leak of our nuclear secrets — which is one thing we, as a nation, used to take so critically that we executed people.

Oh certain, Secretary of Energy Chris Wright says that the DOGE dorks don’t have entry to nuclear secrets and techniques however hey, keep in mind when the Treasury mentioned DOGE didn’t have write entry and that was not true at all?

Even discounting the potential of some catastrophic mistake, let’s take into consideration what success would appear to be for King Elon. Judging by his fixed, unhinged posts on X, his hiring practices, and his support of Germany’s far-right party, it looks like he’s down with white supremacy. That additionally clears up any query about his let’s-argue-about-whether-it’s-a-Nazi-salute “gesture” on the inauguration; it was meant each to sign he might say or do something he desires with out consequence and to fireside up his base of racists. In order that most likely means immigration cutoffs besides within the instances of H-1bs that now work like indentured servitude, and authorities strain on anybody who hires girls, trans individuals, or non-white males. The non-prosecution of hate crimes, clearly. I’m not assured in continued protections for abortion and even contraception, due to Musk’s weird pronatalist thing.

Musk’s paramount aim, nonetheless, is all the time for Musk to acquire more money and power. This often comes on the expense of actually everybody else.

So it’s not exhausting to think about meaning his AI endeavor gets embedded within the authorities, X turns into the primary platform for all authorities communications (and perhaps additionally the primary cost supplier, similar to WeChat, as a result of that’s the sort of factor you are able to do in an authoritarian authorities), Starlink turns into the de facto web supplier, and all of the sudden each authorities official drives a Cybertruck. What occurs to the opposite tech giants? Nicely, seems they have been sucking as much as the fallacious man. Dangerous information for Blue Origin and OpenAI: King Elon holds a grudge.

Anybody who objects will get shipped to Guantanamo, or higher but, El Salvador. In any case, Musk already has a pet prosecutor, Ed Martin, who (whereas not advocating for the last wave of insurrectionists) advised Musk that he’d begin proceedings at Musk’s referral and anybody who has “damaged the legislation and even acted merely unethically” can anticipated to be chased “to the top of the Earth.” That is to say nothing of the potential of stochastic violence from white supremacists, spurred by posts on X.

The one factor all of us actually have going for us is that Musk has a tiny group. Certain, they’ll obtain a ton of delicate authorities knowledge — not nice! — however they’ll’t run all of those companies without delay. And none of those individuals has the 20 years’ expertise with COBOL that will be essential to take these things over shortly. Leaving apart Musk’s propensity for fucking round and discovering out, his means to manage all these techniques stays considerably restricted by his staffing. Possibly he can get Trump’s individuals to assist him, however given Musk’s vanity, I believe Musk will wish to hand-pick a group; I’d guess he assumes Trump’s individuals are idiots, given how simply he’s run by way of them.

However the extra techniques Musk has entry to, and the extra knowledge he can futz round with, the extra probably it turns into that one thing catastrophic occurs. As a result of it appears Congress received’t act, and Musk can ignore the courts at will, plainly the protection of residents’ personal knowledge, categorised data, and all authorities funds falls on authorities staffers and their unions alone.

There’s a purpose Musk-hater Steve Bannon has been daring him to begin looking on the Pentagon. Bannon is aware of that’s the place this all falls aside. The army has been suspiciously quiet about this direct threat to national security, and there’s no telling how the spies really feel. Given how a lot of the federal government Musk has taken over, an anti-Musk junta isn’t past the pale — and whereas Musk presumably has personal safety, there are much more individuals in, say, the Military.

This strikes me as an all-or-nothing motion for Musk. If he wins, he guidelines essentially the most highly effective nation on Earth. If he loses, he’s going to have authorized complications for the remainder of his life, perhaps even the type that land him in jail. X continues to hemorrhage cash, Tesla’s declining gross sales meet up with the corporate, and perhaps worst for him, he’s publicly humiliated — having gone from King Musk to nothing in any respect. I anticipate him to combat tooth and nail to carry on to the ability he’s grabbed. The query is that if he’ll should.