Cheyenne Suarez

Musk's rapid takeover of US agencies raises 'huge red flag': analysts

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Reuters Wires

<p>Elon Musk&#x27;s rapid takeover of two U.S. government agencies has enabled the South African-born billionaire to exert unprecedented control over America&#x27;s 2.2-million-member federal workforce and begin a dramatic reshaping of government.</p><p>But analysts tell Reuters the federal courts - and Congress - may still have the ability to impose restraints on Musk as he works to shut down USAID, the nation&#x27;s foreign humanitarian aid office, and impose sweeping cuts in other parts of the US government.</p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/world/2025/2/3/musk-says-trump-shutting-down-us-aid-agency-0052">Musk says Trump &#x27;shutting down&#x27; US aid agency</a></div><p>The world&#x27;s richest man and an ally of President Donald Trump, Musk, 53, has in two weeks created a new center of power in Washington as he executes Trump&#x27;s cost-cutting initiative to reduce the size of the U.S. government.</p><p>Musk&#x27;s actions have fostered a wave of panic among government workers and public protests in Washington and at times have threatened to overshadow Trump&#x27;s own agenda.</p><p>Trump&#x27;s up-and-down trade war with neighboring Canada and Mexico vied this week for space on front pages with Musk&#x27;s effort to shut down USAID, the Agency for International Development, America&#x27;s main humanitarian aid agency to the world.</p><p>Musk&#x27;s efforts are part of a massive government restructuring by Trump, who has fired and sidelined hundreds of civil servants in his first steps toward downsizing the bureaucracy and installing more loyalists.</p><p>The centralization of power in someone who lacks a top-level security clearance and has not been subject to any Senate confirmation process is an &quot;egregious executive branch overreach,&quot; according to Charlie Dent , a former Republican US congressman from Pennsylvania, now at the Aspen Institute.</p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/world/2025/2/4/musk-takes-reins-of-us-treasury-payments-sparking-alarm-0852">Musk takes reins of US Treasury payments, sparking alarm</a></div><p>Nonetheless, Musk operates at Trump&#x27;s pleasure. The president told reporters this week that the billionaire had to seek approval from the White House for any of his actions.&quot;Elon can&#x27;t do and won&#x27;t do anything without our approval, and we&#x27;ll give him the approval, where appropriate; where not appropriate, we won&#x27;t.&quot;</p><p>Trump has put Musk in charge of what both men call the Department of Government Efficiency. Despite its name, it is not a department, Musk does not draw a government salary, and DOGE&#x27;s creation immediately drew lawsuits from government unions, watchdogs and public interest groups.</p><p>Exactly who makes up DOGE is unclear. The Trump administration has not released a list of DOGE employees. Nor has it said how they are being paid, or how many have entered each agency.</p><p>Neither Musk nor the White House immediately responded to a request for comment.</p><p>Trump has repeatedly said that the federal bureaucracy is bloated and inefficient, and needs to be downsized. He also accuses many federal workers of being liberal ideologues out to thwart his agenda.</p><p>Musk&#x27;s critics, including Democratic lawmakers, have accused him of a hostile takeover of government. Federal worker unions sued to block Musk&#x27;s access to sensitive computer systems.</p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/world/2025/2/4/-it-is-like-putting-a-tiger-into-a-petting-zoo-schumer-on-musk-s-work-at-treasury-1325">&#x27;It is like putting a tiger into a petting zoo&#x27;: Schumer on Musk&#x27;s work at Treasury</a></div><div><em>(Production: Tom Rowe/Julio Cesar Chavez)</em></div><div> </div>

<p>Elon Musk's rapid takeover of two U.S. government agencies has enabled the South African-born billionaire to exert unprecedented control over America's 2.2-million-member federal workforce and begin a dramatic reshaping of government. </p>

Elon Musk's rapid takeover of two U.S. government agencies has enabled the South African-born billionaire to exert unprecedented control over America's 2.2-million-member federal workforce and begin a dramatic reshaping of government.

'Executive branch overreach': Musk's rapid takeover of US agencies raises 'huge red flag' - analysts

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'Executive branch overreach': Musk's rapid takeover of US agencies raises 'huge red flag' - analysts

Reuters

Published Feb 06, 2025 01:09 PM PHT

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