According to news reports Mr. Musk and members of his team were granted access to the automated systems that handle disbursements for the U.S. Government. As a citizen of the United States who receives disbursements from our government, I find this situation unacceptable. Mr. Musk and the members of his team do not have any right to these automated systems, which would include my personal data as well as the data of millions of other citizens. As an ad hoc team within the administration, Musk and his team have an ill-defined relationship with the government and no clear lines of authority or accountability. To grant them such broad access is reckless in the extreme.
As part of the process which granted Mr. Musk this unparalleled access, President Trump again forced a career governmental employee to retire or be fired. The President has shown disregard for the ways in which our government works, especially in how it hires and fires employees. As the chief executive the President enjoys the privilege of managing the governmental workforce; but, he must act within the confines of law and published policy. This should include Mr. Musk and the other members of his team. Mr. Musk and his team represent a particularly thorny problem.
Mr. Musk and his team members are not a part of the government. They are supposed to operate in an advisory capacity. But that is not how they are working. They are increasingly acting as de facto members of the President’s cabinet. This poses several problems.
Chief among them is accountability. President Trump has the right and responsibility to gather a team to help and advise. Normally these men and women are known collectively as the cabinet and require Senate consent and approval. President Trump as side-stepped this procedure by claiming Mr. Musk and his team are not part of the government; yet they now have access to the extremely sensitive automated systems which handle government disbursements. No one has examined them for competence or trustworthiness. Despite this, they enjoy access to the personal data of millions of Americans. Mr. Musk’s previous actions and statements reveal a mercurial personality given to rash actions. Though he has enjoyed unparalleled success in the business realm, his track record is not one of perfection or unblemished competence. His guidance from the President is vague, worrisomely so. We do not know what he plans on doing other than in the most broad sense. Then there is accountability.
As an officer in the Army, I once led a team with an extraordinarily large budget. At one point I had to respond to a request from Congress to justify our expenses. Though it was time consuming and difficult, we answered the legitimate congressional inquiry. Mr. Musk does not have to answer to anyone but the President. How can we justify giving a man such extraordinary power without a check or balance. One of the great successes of our constitution is the checks and balances system. Though we may chafe, as I did when it applied to me, the checks and balances provide a brake or constraint against abuse of power. Congress, which enjoys the power of the purse, must exercise their constitutional authority and require accountability. This accountability must extend to Mr. Musk, who is not a disinterested party.
Mr. Musk is a government contractor whose Space-X business made over three billion from governmental contracts last year alone. How can Mr. Musk remain disinterested when examining the government for fraud, waste, or abuse. Much of his staggering personal worth comes from our taxpayer dollars. This is not to say that Space-X does not give a good value for the investment. It just means that Mr. Musk is not impartial. Who will hold Mr. Musk accountable? The President. Then there are the practices and tactics of Mr. Musk.
Mr. Musk operates like a playground bully. He and his team have continually sent out threatening emails and made similarly belligerent comments in public forums. They use intimidation to disorient and discourage governmental employees. They disparage large swaths of professionals without evidence other than their personal animus. Our Civil Service grew out of the chaos of the spoils system during the Gilded Age. A revolving door of political appointees and other nonqualified individuals failed to meet the needs of our nation. Through hard work, we established a professional civil service system, which while not perfect, provides for the needs of our population. As someone who has traveled and lived widely overseas, our civil service professionals are among the best this world has to offer, and as someone who worked in government for twenty-seven years, I can attest to the fact that the vast majority of our civil servants are competent professionals who work hard each day to carry out their tasks responsibly. For someone born to wealth, to savage such a group without evidence is not acceptable. And for them to take these without congressional push back or protest is unimaginable.
I wonder where congress is in all of this. They have the constitutional authority to act, to demand answers to questions. Yet, they seem to have acquiesced. Are they so enthralled to President Trump as to not care? Or, are they so fearful of MAGA backlash that they willingly cower to such bully tactics? They have let Mr. Musk severely cripple or stop the good work of the USAID department. Mr. Musk, and other conservatives, clamor for the shuttering of the USAID department, claiming it represents a significant source of waste; yet, the total budget for USAID represents less than 1% of the total yearly national budget. Their swaggering has hurt millions across the globe and has undercut our attempts to help the weakest and improve our standing in the global community. It is the act of a bully to attack the weak and defenseless.
We need to rethink the authority and responsibility President Trump has given Mr. Musk and his coworkers. Saving tax dollars is always a laudable goal, but it ought to be done properly and with due deliberation and consultation. This unrestrained and unaccountable team ought to be brought into check. There is too much at steak here to give away such power.
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