At President Donald Trump’s inauguration last month, with some of the richest people in the world in attendance, we saw a snapshot of what former President Joe Biden warned the country of: “an oligarchy taking shape in America of extreme wealth, power and influence that really threatens our entire democracy, our basic rights and freedoms.”
Elon Musk, owner of Tesla and SpaceX, and the richest man in the world is now at the forefront of government with a position as head of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). According to the White House, Musk is a “special government employee,” a position in which an individual provides important but limited service to the government, usually for no compensation.
This comes after Musk spent over $250 million during Trump’s presidential campaign. Musk’s contributions included $40.5 million in his daily $1 million payments to Trump supporters in seven swing states. Although federal law prohibits paying for votes, a Pennsylvania judge rejected Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner’s attempt to block Musk’s $1 million payments.
In the short time that President Trump has been in office, Musk and DOGE have attempted to change the structure of government as we know it with unprecedented access to the Treasury Department, which operates and maintains systems such as the production and distribution of currency and funds needed to run the federal government.
According to WIRED, DOGE employees have digital permission to see data in the United States government payment system ranging from Social Security numbers to income tax documents. The department’s staff already made changes to the programs that regulate government funding, giving them the ability to block payments reserved for Social Security beneficiaries and hide records of payments blocked.
Musk also attempted to stop money flowing to the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), a federal agency charged with delivering humanitarian assistance overseas which both Musk and Trump claim largely spends wastefully. Supporters of the agency disagree, saying that it is essential to protecting national security and countering the influence of countries like Russia and China.
The current administration’s approach to defunding essential programs while maintaining a capitalist structure is contradictory. Individuals are expected to thrive in a free-market society, yet they are being stripped of the resources necessary for economic stability.
DOGE is also pushing to reduce the number of federal employees and cutting government spending in an effort to “save taxpayer money.” This initiative draws parallels to how Musk runs his companies. Musk is evidently very against “taxing the rich.” He said on X, a platform which he owns, that, “Eventually, they run out of other people’s money and then they come for you.” This is false, since Musk and other billionaires accumulated their wealth off the backs of working class people, many who make minimum wage. The income, lack of bonuses or time off all benefits the companies profits making the owners wealthier.
According to Medium, workers at Tesla’s Fremont factory, their highest paid factory, claim they were paid $4 to $8 per hour less than the national average for autoworkers, leading to workers reaching out to the United Auto Workers (UAW) for support. Meanwhile, Tesla’s Austin, Texas, factory has the lowest-paid employees of Tesla factories, with wages ranging from $22 to $39 per hour. Proximity to the border disproportionately affects immigrant workers, who often receive lower wages. In a report by Informa Connect Academy, Musk is projected to be the world’s first trillionaire by 2027.
During the presidential race, Musk said very openly that if former Vice President Kamala Harris had been elected president, she was going to crush Tesla. It is also a fact that companies like Tesla save money by using cheap materials and international labor to meet demand with goods being imported from China and the Philippines. On the contrary, with Trump’s tariffs on foreign goods aiming to promote American-made products, it will become more expensive to source these materials, evidenced with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announcing retaliatory tariffs against the U.S. on Feb. 2, an action which is detrimental to the American people who are affected.
In addition to his wealth, Musk also holds a lot of political power globally due to contracts with governments all over the globe due to Starlink, a satellite internet service provider with coverage in over 100 countries and territories. Most importantly, the U.S. Department of Defense has recognized Starlink’s importance, especially for military use, awarding contracts to SpaceX for the satellite-based communication systems.
In his new role, Musk can potentially dismantle some of the government agencies which have constrained some of his companies. For example, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration which has investigated Tesla’s Autopilot system on the basis of hundreds of crashes involving its misuse.
Zoë Schiffer, the Director of Business and Industry at WIRED says, “The U.S. government was actively looking into decisions that he had made while running his companies, and, you know, there was the possibility of fines or regulations. Now he is in the position of, in some ways, regulating the regulators, and his power looks pretty unchecked.”
Although billionaires can afford keeping their income in non-taxable areas such as stocks and shares in big companies, many working-class people are paid in taxable income and pay an average of 15% in state and income tax. Lower-class Americans and those who live in poverty have to rely on government programs such as Medicare, subsidized housing and food stamps, all programs which Musk and Trump are trying to remove. The two slash programs for the poor with the thinly veiled intention to continue to line their own pockets.
Many government officials are not speaking out against Musk’s power in government because it benefits them politically. In an appearance on CBS’s Face The Nation in December of last year, Rep. Tony Gonzales, R-Texas, referred to Elon Musk to a “prime minister,” praising Musk for speaking out against an early version of a stopgap funding bill intended to prevent a government shutdown.
“It’s kind of interesting,” Gonzales said. “We have a president, we have a vice president, we have a speaker. It feels as if Elon Musk is our prime minister.”
Gonzales added that although Musk was unelected, his voice is a “reflection of the voice of the people.”
Independent Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders disagreed, announcing a “National Tour to Fight Oligarchy.” In a video promoting the tour, Sanders, 83, stated, “I’m not typically in the habit of thanking Elon Musk. But I must confess that he’s done an exceptional job of demonstrating a point that a few of us have been making for years: that we live in an oligarchic society where billionaires dominate not only our politics and the information we consume from the media but our government and economic lives as well.”
Although Musk claimed the U.S. is “less interested in interfering with the affairs of other countries,” Musk’s current relationship with many far-right extremist groups say otherwise. The German government has criticized Musk for backing the far-right, pro-Russia party Alternative for Germany (AfD), which seeks to “eliminate the free democratic basic order.” AfD leaders have made antisemitic, anti-Muslim, and anti-democratic statements, leading to widespread backlash. A German government spokesperson stated, “It is indeed the case that Elon Musk is trying to influence [German] federal elections.”
To some, it may seem like Musk’s proximity to these groups is nothing to worry about. However, in Europe, a continent which historically has suffered under the rule of far-right extremists and anti-democratic parties, the interference of Musk in the federal government further threatens the U.S. as a democratic institution.
In a December speech in Arizona, Trump dispelled the notion that Musk could be president saying, “No, he’s not going to be president, that I can tell you. And I’m safe. You know why he can’t be? He wasn’t born in this country,” Trump added about Musk, who was born in South Africa.
On Feb. 19, a U.S. appeals court blocked an executive order signed by President Trump to deny birthright citizenship to children born in the U.S. if neither their mother nor father was a U.S. citizen or permanent resident. However, as we’ve seen with Musk, you don’t have to be elected to political office, or be born in the U.S. to wield the power of the president.
