New Democratic bill targets Elon Musk
A veteran House Democrat is introducing new legislation to respond to billionaire Trump ally Elon Musk's overhaul of the federal government: Rep. Mark Pocan (D-Wis.) on Wednesday rolled out the Eliminate Looting of Our Nation by Mitigating Unethical State Kleptocracy (ELON MUSK) Act, which would ban "special" government employees like Musk from having federal contracts.
“No government employee, ‘Special’ or not, should have any financial interest in who the government does business with," Pocan said. "Elon Musk is the poster child for this type of potential abuse. After more than $20 billion in federal contracts, there’s no way Musk can be objective in what he’s doing." Musk holds major federal contracts through his companies including SpaceX and Starlink.
It's the latest example of Hill Democrats turning Musk into an target of their opposition in President Donald Trump's administration.
Musk's so-called Department of Government Efficiency effort prompted top House and Senate Democrats to also introduce a bill Tuesday to block "unlawful access" to the Treasury Department payment system that Musk and his allies recently gained access to. That bill is also likely to go nowhere in the GOP-controlled Congress.
The Egocentric Eccentric Exploits of Elon
Senate’s top appropriator says Elon Musk has gone too far
The Senate’s top appropriator thinks Elon Musk has gone too far.
Senate Appropriations Chair Susan Collins, a Maine Republican, is raising alarms about the influence that billionaire Elon Musk is wielding inside the Trump administration and across federal agencies.
“There’s no doubt that the president appears to have empowered Elon Musk far beyond what I think is appropriate,” she told reporters Wednesday. “I think a lot of it is going to end up in court.”
After the only known one-on-one meeting between Collins and Musk on Capitol Hill late last year, she had said she was “very impressed with his energy and dedication.”
Since that time, Musk has helped orchestrate a de facto shutdown of the U.S. Agency for International Development and gained access to the Treasury Department system that controls trillions of dollars in federal payments.
Collins also repeated her unease Wednesday that the White House is undermining Congressional spending power.
“I am concerned if the Trump administration is clawing back money that has been specifically appropriated for a particular purpose,” she said.
Collins leads the Senate’s efforts on writing spending bills and is in ongoing negotiations over “topline” funding levels with House and Senate colleagues ahead of the March 14 government shutdown deadline.
Unlike many Senate Republicans, Collins has been vocal about her discomfort with the White House usurping Congress’ constitutional power of the purse.
Click on the link for the full article
The Senate’s top appropriator thinks Elon Musk has gone too far.
Senate Appropriations Chair Susan Collins, a Maine Republican, is raising alarms about the influence that billionaire Elon Musk is wielding inside the Trump administration and across federal agencies.
“There’s no doubt that the president appears to have empowered Elon Musk far beyond what I think is appropriate,” she told reporters Wednesday. “I think a lot of it is going to end up in court.”
After the only known one-on-one meeting between Collins and Musk on Capitol Hill late last year, she had said she was “very impressed with his energy and dedication.”
Since that time, Musk has helped orchestrate a de facto shutdown of the U.S. Agency for International Development and gained access to the Treasury Department system that controls trillions of dollars in federal payments.
Collins also repeated her unease Wednesday that the White House is undermining Congressional spending power.
“I am concerned if the Trump administration is clawing back money that has been specifically appropriated for a particular purpose,” she said.
Collins leads the Senate’s efforts on writing spending bills and is in ongoing negotiations over “topline” funding levels with House and Senate colleagues ahead of the March 14 government shutdown deadline.
Unlike many Senate Republicans, Collins has been vocal about her discomfort with the White House usurping Congress’ constitutional power of the purse.
Click on the link for the full article
DOGE Employees Ordered to Stop Using Slack While Agency Transitions to a Records System Not Subject to FOIA
Employees working for the agency now known as DOGE have been ordered to stop using Slack while government lawyers attempt to transition the agency to one that is not subject to the Freedom of Information Act, 404 Media has learned.
“Good morning, everyone! As a reminder, please refrain from using Slack at the moment while our various general counsels figure out the best way to handle the records migration to our new EOP [Executive Office of the President] component,” a message seen by 404 Media reads. “Will update as soon as we have more information!”
Another message seen by 404 Media provides an update and asserts that the US Digital Service (which is now DOGE) will “split” from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB).
“I spoke to the DOGE team about Slack. Because of the USDS split from OMB, OMB is asking us to stop generating new slack messages starting now,” the message says. “We expect this to be a temporary pause, and we expect to continue having access to historical Slack material. We may have intermittent access as we go through this system transition so continue to use good data hygiene and backup any critical material. We will keep you updated.”
Click on the link for the full article
Employees working for the agency now known as DOGE have been ordered to stop using Slack while government lawyers attempt to transition the agency to one that is not subject to the Freedom of Information Act, 404 Media has learned.
“Good morning, everyone! As a reminder, please refrain from using Slack at the moment while our various general counsels figure out the best way to handle the records migration to our new EOP [Executive Office of the President] component,” a message seen by 404 Media reads. “Will update as soon as we have more information!”
Another message seen by 404 Media provides an update and asserts that the US Digital Service (which is now DOGE) will “split” from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB).
“I spoke to the DOGE team about Slack. Because of the USDS split from OMB, OMB is asking us to stop generating new slack messages starting now,” the message says. “We expect this to be a temporary pause, and we expect to continue having access to historical Slack material. We may have intermittent access as we go through this system transition so continue to use good data hygiene and backup any critical material. We will keep you updated.”
Click on the link for the full article
Oh my God, yes! I love this move, it took a while for the Dems to get going, but I like where this is going. Maga is loyal to Trump, don't attack him to hard, it won't matter. Only two weeks in, they won't turn on him, they won't blame him for ANYTHING.
However, Maga has been given a very blamable, punchable, unpopular scapegoat. Elon Musk! Target him and MAKE Trump defend him, make congress pass bills to protect him. Either Elon will drag Trump down or Trump will cut him loose like he does everyone else. Lets see where it goes...
However, Maga has been given a very blamable, punchable, unpopular scapegoat. Elon Musk! Target him and MAKE Trump defend him, make congress pass bills to protect him. Either Elon will drag Trump down or Trump will cut him loose like he does everyone else. Lets see where it goes...
‘Whoa!’ CNN’s Harry Enten Stunned By Trump-Era Plunge In Elon Musk’s Popularity
CNN senior data correspondent Harry Enten was stunned by the plunge in Elon Musk’s popularity since before President Donald Trump was first elected — and the unpopularity of Musk’s role in the current administration.
As an ambiguously-titled “special government employee,” Musk has been spearheading massive purges of government employees, the controversial shuttering of USAID, and the rewriting of vital government computing systems — all without being elected or confirmed.
On Wednesday’s edition of CNN News Central, Enten joined co-anchor Sara Sidner to break down the public’s reaction to Musk now — and just how far his popularity has fallen since he was “just the Space-X guy”:
CNN senior data correspondent Harry Enten was stunned by the plunge in Elon Musk’s popularity since before President Donald Trump was first elected — and the unpopularity of Musk’s role in the current administration.
As an ambiguously-titled “special government employee,” Musk has been spearheading massive purges of government employees, the controversial shuttering of USAID, and the rewriting of vital government computing systems — all without being elected or confirmed.
On Wednesday’s edition of CNN News Central, Enten joined co-anchor Sara Sidner to break down the public’s reaction to Musk now — and just how far his popularity has fallen since he was “just the Space-X guy”:
Click on the link for the full articleSARA SIDNER: How popular is the idea of having Elon Musk in this position, which has a great deal of power?
HARRY ENTEN: Yeah, I think simply put, the American people did not sign up for this! They voted in Donald Trump. They did not vote in Elon Musk, a key role for Musk in Trump’s administration.
You see this, 39% support, 53% — the clear majority oppose. They don’t want this! The American people don’t want this! No, no, no! Just 36% of independents support the idea of Elon Musk having a key role in the Trump administration.
-
88Commanders00
- Posts: 646
- Joined: Fri Dec 13, 2024 12:44 am
- Reactions score: 247
- Location: Palm Bay, Florida
-
CobraCommander
- Posts: 119
- Joined: Sat Jan 18, 2025 11:50 am
- Reactions score: 95
The idea the democrats have a plan and it centers around taking down Elon is laughable.
If democrats had a plan we wouldn’t be where we are today.
The only thing they can do is scratch and claw for crumbs and hope that this descends so far into madness that they can take back control of the house and senate during midterms.
If democrats had a plan we wouldn’t be where we are today.
The only thing they can do is scratch and claw for crumbs and hope that this descends so far into madness that they can take back control of the house and senate during midterms.
Elon Musk Proposes Putting US Treasury on Blockchain
Elon Musk and his gang of young interns are descending on US federal agencies like flies.
After a tense weekend in which Musk forced his way into the Treasury's servers — gaining access to Social Security, Medicare, and possibly student loan payment information — it was widely reported that Trump's broligarch has "read only access" to the department's sensitive information. Essentially, he can't gunk up any ongoing payments, at least yet, though his team theoretically has access to huge amounts of personal information about Americans the Treasury holds, inviting legal attacks for unlawful disclosure.
And to hear him tell it, Musk is only getting started. Now he's signaling a radical plan to transfer the US Treasury to the blockchain.
"Career Treasury officials are breaking the law every hour of every day by approving payments that are fraudulent or do not match the funding laws passed by Congress," he posted on Monday.
The tech mogul failed to share any evidence to back up his claim, but when asked by an acolyte if the Treasury should be put on the blockchain "so this doesn't happen," Musk replied with an enthusiastic "yes!"
If it's unclear to you what that even means in practice, you're not alone. Forbes has reported that, so far, Musk has floated using the blockchain to safeguard data, track federal spending, make payments on behalf of the federal government, and manage agency buildings — things that are already done with regular payment systems using the dollar. Musk hasn't yet explained what any of his nebulous blockchain plans mean, except that they will "save us money."
But the richest man in the world might be building the case against his plans on his own. Musk's Treasury takeover on Monday was met swiftly with a joint lawsuit filed by a number of activist groups and unions, which sent the crypto market into turmoil.
Soon after the Treasury lawsuit was announced, Musk's favorite crypto asset, Dogecoin, saw its price tumble 15 percent. Bitcoin likewise dropped by 2.5 percent — a three week low — and Ethereum fell by 18 percent, its largest drop since November, likely aggravated by Trump's ongoing tariff war.
Those price drops come amidst an increasingly volatile crypto market more broadly, as government actions like Trump's executive orders and State lawmakers' plans to develop "Bitcoin Strategic Reserves" make waves in the already rocky digital currency space. Put simply, crypto is an extremely reactive asset, which doesn't make a great foundation for a massive economy like the US.
Click on the link for the full article
Elon Musk and his gang of young interns are descending on US federal agencies like flies.
After a tense weekend in which Musk forced his way into the Treasury's servers — gaining access to Social Security, Medicare, and possibly student loan payment information — it was widely reported that Trump's broligarch has "read only access" to the department's sensitive information. Essentially, he can't gunk up any ongoing payments, at least yet, though his team theoretically has access to huge amounts of personal information about Americans the Treasury holds, inviting legal attacks for unlawful disclosure.
And to hear him tell it, Musk is only getting started. Now he's signaling a radical plan to transfer the US Treasury to the blockchain.
"Career Treasury officials are breaking the law every hour of every day by approving payments that are fraudulent or do not match the funding laws passed by Congress," he posted on Monday.
The tech mogul failed to share any evidence to back up his claim, but when asked by an acolyte if the Treasury should be put on the blockchain "so this doesn't happen," Musk replied with an enthusiastic "yes!"
If it's unclear to you what that even means in practice, you're not alone. Forbes has reported that, so far, Musk has floated using the blockchain to safeguard data, track federal spending, make payments on behalf of the federal government, and manage agency buildings — things that are already done with regular payment systems using the dollar. Musk hasn't yet explained what any of his nebulous blockchain plans mean, except that they will "save us money."
But the richest man in the world might be building the case against his plans on his own. Musk's Treasury takeover on Monday was met swiftly with a joint lawsuit filed by a number of activist groups and unions, which sent the crypto market into turmoil.
Soon after the Treasury lawsuit was announced, Musk's favorite crypto asset, Dogecoin, saw its price tumble 15 percent. Bitcoin likewise dropped by 2.5 percent — a three week low — and Ethereum fell by 18 percent, its largest drop since November, likely aggravated by Trump's ongoing tariff war.
Those price drops come amidst an increasingly volatile crypto market more broadly, as government actions like Trump's executive orders and State lawmakers' plans to develop "Bitcoin Strategic Reserves" make waves in the already rocky digital currency space. Put simply, crypto is an extremely reactive asset, which doesn't make a great foundation for a massive economy like the US.
Click on the link for the full article