Elon Musk’s Radical Overhaul of the U.S. Government Sparks Controversy

Watan-Elon Musk’s rapid moves to cut federal government funding and reduce the number of government employees have caused chaos in many government agencies in Washington, amid widespread debate over the objectives of the so-called “DOGE” team that Musk recruited to carry out this mission.

Despite a ruling last Saturday by U.S. District Judge Paul Engelmayer in Manhattan barring Musk’s “Department of Government Efficiency” team and certain political appointees in President Donald Trump’s administration from temporarily accessing payment systems at the Treasury Department, Musk has been moving quickly between agencies to audit government spending and employee operations. This has unsettled many federal agencies and raised concerns about access to and potential leaks of classified data.

The judge stated that his decision was aimed at preventing the improper disclosure of sensitive information, as the government systems in question handle trillions of dollars in payments. However, Musk took to X (formerly Twitter), which he owns, to call the judge’s ruling “completely insane!” and claimed that such an order “protects fraudsters” without providing evidence. He added, “How can we prevent fraud and taxpayer money waste without reviewing how funds are spent?” and labeled Judge Engelmayer as an “activist in a judge’s robe.”

Meanwhile, Bloomberg reported on Sunday that Musk plans to send a team from the Department of Government Efficiency to Parkersburg, West Virginia, this week, where they will be granted “view-only” access to the U.S. government’s central accounting system, according to a source familiar with the efforts.

This planned visit opens a new window into some of the government’s most sensitive financial data. On X, Musk highlighted his role in saving billions of dollars by canceling contracts and grants, despite Treasury officials insisting that he lacks the authority to do so within its payment systems.

A source familiar with the visit stated that the Department of Government Efficiency team would be at the Financial Services Office in Parkersburg from Tuesday to Thursday. This facility houses the Treasury Department’s Central Accounting Reporting System (CARS), which manages accounting and access to reports from all federal agencies. CARS data is used to compile the nation’s balance sheet and also processes banking information from agencies and the Federal Reserve.

The Washington Post reported that Musk’s campaign has caused near-daily chaos across Washington, seemingly designed to advance a broader agenda of reducing the federal workforce to levels unseen in at least 20 years. The goal is a significantly smaller government with less oversight of private businesses, fewer services, a reduced share of the U.S. economy, but “more responsiveness to presidential directives.”

If Musk succeeds, the federal workforce could shrink by at least 10%, with up to half of the government’s non-military real estate holdings being liquidated—a move aimed at closing offices, according to sources cited by the newspaper.

Reducing the federal workforce could pave the way for Trump and Musk to dismantle entire federal agencies without congressional approval, marking an unprecedented expansion of executive power. Meanwhile, White House officials have begun preparing budget documents seeking to cut some agencies and departments by as much as 60%.

Experts argue that these sweeping changes represent one of the most aggressive federal government reform efforts in U.S. history. David Super, a professor of administrative law at Georgetown University, noted that “the largest previous power grabs were President Richard Nixon’s 1973 attempt to abolish federal programs he disliked and President Harry Truman’s 1952 effort to nationalize the steel industry—both of which were struck down by the courts.” He added that “the current administration is doing the equivalent of these moves multiple times a day.”

Supporters Defend Musk and Trump’s ‘Zero-Based Budgeting’ Approach Amid Financial and Regulatory Struggles

Musk’s supporters, however, argue that he and Trump are implementing a “zero-based budgeting” approach—cutting all spending to zero and then rebuilding from scratch. They say these efforts reflect Musk’s management style of pushing boundaries, as seen when he took over Twitter (now X) and fired over 75% of its staff. He has also favored a lean workforce at Tesla, his electric car company.

Avik Roy, founder of the Foundation for Research on Equal Opportunity, a think tank promoting free markets, defended the aggressive measures, citing the country’s worsening financial situation and the surge in regulations under former President Joe Biden’s administration.

Roy said of Trump and Musk: “They’re trying to say, let’s start from zero, figure out which programs meet important goals, and identify the ones rife with fraud and abuse.” While the legal challenges ahead remain unclear, he added, “If some of these changes are overturned but others lead to a more efficient government, that’s a good thing.”