By pledging $238 million to help sway voters towards Donald Trump, Musk made an expensive investment to prove his political loyalties. However, his gamble clearly paid off when he was appointed to run the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) and given ‘special government employee’ status under the Trump administration.
Musk’s influence over the White House seems to only grow by the day.
It seems Musk has transferred his method of terminating employees to bring down costs to the White House. In January 2025 the Office of Personnel Management sent an email asking nearly 3 million federal employees to resign which is reminiscent of Musk requesting employees resign when he bought Twitter in 2022. As well as the methods being the same, an undeniable link is the phrasing of the email. Both the White House email and Elon Musk’s Twitter email use the same subject line: ‘A fork in the road’. As the Trump administration have employed both his phrasing and systemic method of firing employees to slash costs, Musk’s influence over the White House seems to only grow by the day.
Musk’s apparent charming of the US government greatly concerns both government employees and citizens alike given his unprecedented access to government institutions. Less than a month since its creation DOGE has already taken control of USAid. The US government’s foreign aid agency and reportedly cut its employees down from 10,000 to just over 300. It’s deeply concerning that an unofficial temporary government department can make such permanent changes to the government. Similarly, DOGE and its employees reportedly have access to the US Treasury and its payment system. While the level of access granted is unclear and being contested the fact that Musk wants access at all is unsettling.
This begs the question – has the Trump administration signed away their political power for money?
Also, Tom Krause a DOGE employee, has just been appointed the highest career official in the US Treasury - Fiscal Assistant Secretary of the Treasury. Given that he likely wouldn’t have been promoted to this role without having Musk’s backing and approval, it demonstrates Musk’s influence over Trump and the designation of political power. This begs the question – has the Trump administration signed away their political power for money?
With Trump applauding his work so far and saying DOGE will investigate military spending next it seems that Elon Musk’s influence and political power will only grow over the next 4 years.