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  • How Elon Musk set off two weeks of chaos across Washington

    How Elon Musk set off two weeks of chaos across Washington



    Washington
    CNN
     — 

    Elon Musk and his allies have spent the last two weeks barreling full speed into multiple government agencies, causing confusion and chaos and raising questions about whether an unelected businessman can wield this kind of authority, seemingly running roughshod over laws and programs set up by Congress.

    Over the last several days, Musk-aligned personnel have gained full access to the Treasury’s payments system, threatened to shut down the US Agency for International Development, offered all federal employees a sort of “buyout” plan, and in several agencies, pushed aside career civil servants – in some cases locking them out of their offices or computers.

    Taken together, Musk’s moves represent an unprecedented effort to expand the power of the executive branch with little regard for laws or procedures – an effort Donald Trump foreshadowed during his successful 2024 campaign. Musk, the world’s richest man, has tens of billions of dollars in government contracts, and now, access to the innermost workings of the federal government.

    “I have a hard time thinking of anyone who has exerted the kind of power and control that he has exerted over government operations in the last week,” Kathleen Clark, a Washington University law professor who specializes in government ethics, told CNN.

    The question of whether Musk will comply with federal conflict-of-interest rules – and whether the Trump administration will enforce them – has drawn scrutiny from Democrats and watchdog groups.

    Multiple lawsuits are also underway, with more likely to come.

    Critics accuse Musk and his allies of running afoul of laws aimed at protecting the security of federal data, while seeking to shrink or outright eliminate agencies in moves that would take an act of Congress.

    After days of silence on the question of Musk’s employment status, the White House on Monday indicated that Musk has been officially serving as a special government employee. That designation means Musk isn’t a volunteer but also not a full-time federal employee.

    “Special government employees are sort of like super-volunteers. They’re more empowered but less encumbered,” said Kel McClanahan, the executive director of the National Security Counselors, which represents federal employees and whistleblowers and has sued the Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency in court.

    A special government employee is a temporary position for someone who works, or is expected to work, for the government for 130 days or less in a 365-day period. Musk isn’t being paid, a person familiar with his employment told CNN. He does have an office on the White House campus.

    “Elon can’t do and won’t do anything without our approval. And we’ll give him the approval where appropriate. Where not appropriate, we won’t,” the president said on Monday.

    As a special government employee, Musk is covered by a federal conflicts-of-interest statute that prohibits government employees from participating in matters that would affect their financial interests. That law can be enforced criminally or in the civil context, but it only by the Justice Department – in this case, Trump’s Justice Department.

    It is unclear whether Musk has formally been appointed the administrator of the US DOGE entity created by a January 20 Trump executive order. The White House press office hasn’t responded to multiple CNN emails seeking that clarification.

    Such an appointment would weigh on whether Musk is obligated under ethics rules to publicly file a financial disclosure form, said Clark. Also relevant to that determination is whether previous occupants of the administrator role – at the DOGE predecessor agency, the US Digital Service – were highly ranked enough in government service to fall under a mandated public release of the disclosure form.

    The status of the other DOGE appointees dispersed to federal agencies is also unclear, even to staffers at the agencies. Some are now officially in employee databases and have government emails. Others have been entering agencies under visitor badges. Some staffers have reported having meetings with personnel who identify themselves as part of the political appointee team. WIRED has reported that some of the staffers brought on with political appointees at the Office of Personnel Management appear to be in their early 20s.

    OPM, the closest equivalent to the federal government’s human resources agency, has been the source of mass emails being sent to all federal employees in recent days urging them to resign and be paid through September. The emails’ subject line – “A fork in the road” – matched one that Twitter employees received in 2022 after Musk bought the company.

    And now the agency that has been trying to encourage mass resignations of federal employees is itself on the chopping block. On Monday, senior staff at OPM had to identify 30% of their workforce they could cut in the near term, with a floated goal of an eventual 70% reduction in staff, according to two sources. Those cuts could significantly impact OPM’s ability to perform its tasks, including benefits, services and oversight.

    When asked for comment on Friday, an unnamed official replied from OPM’s media relations office with a short email broadly denying CNN’s reporting. The agency didn’t respond when asked follow-up questions or for more specifics.

    Musk himself has made several visits to the OPM offices in downtown Washington, DC, sources said. But most alarming for the career civil servants at OPM, multiple sources told CNN, is that the political appointees have cut off nearly all the senior-level career civil servants at the agency.

    Career civil servants at OPM, including those at the senior-most levels, have been physically moved out of their offices in the Office of the Director Annex and onto different floors. Some have also lost access to internal data systems. That has raised many alarms for civil servants concerned that the personal data, including Social Security numbers, of millions of federal employees is at risk.

    “The political team has unfettered access to everything the Office of the Chief Information Officer manages,” a source at the agency told CNN. “Many of the appointees are software engineers who are making back-end changes without regard to federal norms and requirements. They are pulling statutorily required information off OPM.gov.”

    The agency has had strict cybersecurity protocols in place since a 2015 hack of OPM, which compromised sensitive personal information of roughly 21.5 million people from both inside and outside the government. The hack, which US officials have blamed on Chinese spies, forced OPM and other federal agencies to overhaul their cyber defenses.

    The agency now faces a lawsuit, brought by McClanahan’s firm on behalf of two anonymous federal employees, accusing the administration of failing to conduct a required data security assessment when setting up an OPM email distribution system for mass emails to the entire federal civil service.

    Some of Musk’s top lieutenants have been working directly at OPM or advising at the agency since the inauguration. They include Steve Davis, the CEO of the Boring Company who helped Musk during the purge of Twitter staffers in 2022, as well as now OPM senior adviser Brian Bjelde, who had been vice president of people operations at SpaceX, and Amanda Scales, now OPM’s chief of staff who until January worked in talent at Musk’s xAI company.

    Trump’s nominee to run OPM, Scott Kupor, who is awaiting confirmation, also holds deep ties to the Silicon Valley universe integral to Musk’s DOGE operations. Kupor comes from Andreessen Horowitz, the powerhouse tech venture capital shop co-founded by Marc Andreessen. Andreessen, a legend in the tech space, was closely involved in advising Trump’s transition operation.

    The appointed acting director of the agency – Charles “Chuck” Ezell – was until January, an OPM branch chief for data analytics in Georgia, a jump in seniority that shocked current and former OPM staff.

    Shortly after Trump’s inauguration, top career staffers at USAID – which Musk has branded a “criminal organization” that should “die” – were placed on immediate leave. The entire executive team and every deputy in the agency, which dispenses billions in humanitarian aid and development funding annually, were suddenly gone.

    According to sources, personnel from the Musk-created office then physically tried to access the USAID headquarters in Washington, DC, and were stopped. The DOGE personnel demanded to be let in and threatened to call US Marshals to be allowed access, two of the sources said.

    People hold placards outside the USAID building, after billionaire Elon Musk, who is heading U.S. President Donald Trump's drive to shrink the federal government, said work is underway to shut down the U.S. foreign aid agency USAID, in Washington, U.S., February 3, 2025.

    The DOGE personnel wanted to gain access to USAID security systems and personnel files, three sources said. Two of those sources also said the DOGE personnel wanted access to classified information, which only those with security clearances and a specific need to know are able to access. Eventually they were able to access the headquarters.

    On Sunday night, Musk said Trump had agreed the agency should be shut down. By Monday, Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced he was now acting administrator of USAID. Its website was offline and remaining staff were told to work from home.

    But critics have argued that Trump can’t unilaterally abolish USAID, whose existence is written into federal law and whose budget comes from congressional appropriations.

    “The president has zero legal authority to ‘shut down,’ defund, or otherwise cripple a $50 billion agency. Audit it, identify unnecessary expenditures, draft reform or rescission proposals, and then go to Congress to PASS A LAW,” Brian Riedl, a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute, wrote on X.

    Cuts and new faces at GSA

    A quiet but similarly consequential Musk-driven mission has been underway at the General Services Administration, which oversees federal real estate and procurement.

    The same day Trump took the oath of office, GSA employees received an email from the newly appointed acting head of the agency that highlighted the need for GSA to commit itself to “ensuring government-wide efficiency and maximizing value for the American taxpayer,” according to a copy read to CNN.

    Stephen Ehikian, a former Salesforce executive who most recently worked in AI, was tapped to serve as the agency’s deputy administrator and has taken on the role of acting head of GSA until a Trump nominee is confirmed for the role. The efficiency mandate, Ehikian wrote, was “effective immediately.”

    Ehikian’s email also served as the internal announcement of a series of new appointees across key roles in the agency. They include Thomas Shedd, who is taking over the leadership of the Technology Transformation Services, the essential government unit for the government’s technology products and services.

    Shedd spent the previous eight years building software for vehicle and battery factories at Tesla, Musk’s car company. His approach in the new role carries echoes of Musk’s private-sector strategies, one of the people familiar with the matter said, citing a Shedd email this week to hundreds of GSA employees to schedule “touch-base” sessions and bring with them an example of a recent “technical win.”

    In addition to managing the federal government’s real estate, GSA manages some of the most massive government contracts.

    Critics have questioned the inherent conflict of interest in Musk’s associates working within the GSA, even though they all should have signed nondisclosure agreements. Musk has billions of dollars in government contracts, and one source familiar with the situation noted that some of his closest associates now have access to “sensitive and often classified acquisitions information for billions of dollars in government contracts.”

    According to two sources familiar with the situation at GSA, every office agency must present proposals this week to cut 50% of their business expenses, in addition to the GSA efforts to significantly reduce the federal government’s real estate footprint.

    The GSA didn’t respond to a request for comment.

    Late last week, the DOGE appointees were granted full access to the government’s payments system after the top civil servant at the Treasury Department, David Lebryk, left his job unexpectedly. The DOGE appointees had clashed with Lebryk after they expressed interest in stopping certain payments made by the federal government, according to three people familiar with the situation.

    Musk himself acknowledged his interest in the Treasury Department’s payment processing in a middle-of-the-night post on his social media platform Saturday.

    Signage on the exterior of the U.S. Department of the Treasury building, Saturday, Jan. 11, 2025, in Washington.

    He wrote his team “discovered, among other things, that payment approval officers at Treasury were instructed always to approve payments, even to known fraudulent or terrorist groups. They literally never denied a payment in their entire career. Not even once.”

    The post appeared to ignore the mechanisms already in place for Treasury to simply fulfill lawful payment decisions made by other agencies, and that the system’s value to the federal bureaucracy and the nation’s economy lies in its reliability.

    The Treasury moves have spurred a lawsuit, filed Monday on behalf of government unions and others, alleging a “massive and unprecedented” intrusion into private government data.

    It adds to a pile of lawsuits that has grown quickly in the last two weeks, in some cases halting the administration’s actions.

    “That’s why this whole mishmash is so troubling,” McClanahan said. “They have managed to break so many rules and so many laws with some fairly simple actions that a lot of lawyers and a lot of people in the media and politicians and everyone get tangled up on. … You’re basically punching smoke when you’re trying to litigate against this.”

    CNN’s Kaitlan Collins, Rene Marsh, Alayna Treene, Jennifer Hansler, Lauren Kent, Alex Marquardt and Kevin Liptak contributed to this report.



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  • In the face of a trade war with America’s neighbors, Trump blinked

    In the face of a trade war with America’s neighbors, Trump blinked




    CNN
     — 

    There are two things to remember when assessing Donald Trump’s presidencies.

    First, nothing is more important than the commander in chief looking tough.

    Second, nothing is really what it seems.

    Trump’s classic political method is already on full display in his second presidency and helps explain the baffling chaos, brinkmanship and posturing of his tariff showdown with Canada and Mexico.

    Punishing 25% levies on imports from America’s closest neighbors were due to come into force at 12:01 a.m. ET Tuesday, but Trump put his two-front trade war on hold, claiming he’d scored two big wins and major concessions.

    But despite a White House victory lap, there’s a more convincing case that it was really Trump who backed away from a fight that could have caused severe economic pain.

    Trump does have some bragging rights. He campaigned on strengthening America’s northern and southern borders and demanded Canada and Mexico do more to cut the flow of undocumented migrants and fentanyl.

    After Trump spoke to President Claudia Sheinbaum on Monday, she announced she’d send 10,000 Mexican troops to the border. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau agreed to name a fentanyl czar, set up a joint US-Canada border task force and spend $1.3 billion on helicopters and technology to secure the 49th Parallel.

    “As President, it is my responsibility to ensure the safety of ALL Americans, and I am doing just that,” Trump wrote on Truth Social after putting tariffs on hold for 30 days to see how the “deals” he forged with Canada and Mexico play out.

    Pro-Trump media proclaimed famous victories. “Mexico and Canada buckle,” Fox News declared in a chyron. “Canada Caves,” said Breitbart News, adding, “Art of the Deal: Trump already won the trade war with Mexico for USA.”

    For the White House, Trump had racked up wins, and in “America First” mode, bullied foreign states into submission.

    “Canada is bending the knee, just like Mexico,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told CNN. This was a stunning insult coming from a press aide with no diplomatic responsibility. It also suggested deep contempt for Canada, especially in the White House of a president who demands it become the 51st state.

    But what did Trump get? What did it cost? And will it last?

    A more objective view of the bizarre showdown with America’s neighbors suggests a blunter truth: Trump blinked.

    The president vowed as recently as last week that there was nothing that Canada or Mexico could do to avoid the tariffs he planned to impose.

    But he pulled back on imposing them anyway.

    As markets tanked on Monday morning, the potential consequences of a North American trade war were laid bare. The potential for tariffs to spike the grocery prices that Trump was partly elected to fix came into focus. There were fresh warnings that the auto industry — a cross-border concern — could seize up and that the price of a new vehicle could soon shoot up by $3,000.

    And Canada and Mexico didn’t really give up that much.

    For the Canadians, the cost of a new border strategy was far lower than the fallout of a trade war — and they’d offered the $1.3 billion border strengthening program back in December. Adding a new “fentanyl” czar was hardly a huge political loss.

    Mexico has several times moved troops to the border. For example, it sent 10,000 in April 2021 at the request of President Joe Biden, who didn’t need to threaten to pitch America’s southern neighbor into a recession to get it to act.

    Still, Trump has renewed his reputation as a brazen and belligerent force, who sees little distinction between allies and adversaries and leaves his interlocutors guessing at his next move.

    This is a good political look back home among some of Trump’s supporters. But he’s also reinforced the impression, left over from his first term, that he’s merely transactional and cares more about the chance to claim big wins than the substance of his deals.

    More seriously, the tariff showdown has confirmed that once again, the foreign policy of the world’s most powerful nation is an expression of Trump’s volatile character.

    And by undermining the US-Mexico-Canada trade deal that he argued in his first term was one of the world’s greatest, Trump has undermined trust in America’s word and raised doubts over his capacity to close future deals. Constantly offending the country’s closest friends threatens to undermine Western solidarity against America’s real enemies like Russian and China.

    And by backing down at the 11th hour, the president also sent a clear message to Beijing — which has been slapped with a new 10% tariff on exports to the US — that he might jump at a potential deal if it looks like a breakthrough, even if it lacks depth.

    Minutes after those tariffs came in, China retaliated with its own new set of duties which will come into effect on February 10.

    Trump has also started to answer one of the key questions about his second term: Is he serious about paying a political price for the disruptive policies he promised would create a new American “golden age?”

    On one hand, the president’s vow to rebuild America’s manufacturing base, return jobs from low-wage economies overseas and reverse globalization feels like a genuine attempt to help Americans left bereft by the modern economy. And he’s shown more meaningful policy responses to address the terrible toll left by fentanyl and opioid addiction than most other US leaders.

    But such an economic transformation achieved with tariffs would come with considerable pain in the short-term. And his climbdown on Monday suggests he’s not really serious.

    20250203-rampell_jennings.jpg

    Catherine Rampell: Trump got rolled by Mexico and Canada

    02:18

    Trump claims that Canada was failing to crack down on undocumented migration and fentanyl crossing the border.

    But federal statistics show that of the 21,889 pounds of fentanyl seized by US border authorities in the 2024 fiscal year, only 43 pounds were taken at the Canadian border. And of the approximately 1.6 million US Border Patrol encounters with migrants at places other than legal ports of entry, just 23,721, or about 1.5%, were at the northern border.

    These inconvenient statistics might explain the scattershot nature of the president’s rhetoric on Canada: He’s also argued that the tariffs are justified because America’s northern neighbor has fallen far short of its NATO obligations to spend 2.0% of GDP on defense. (He’s right – official alliance data shows it spent 1.37% on defense in 2024).

    The president also complained that US banks were not able to operate in Canada and that the US didn’t need any of its northern neighbor’s lumber, oil or products – giving the impression he wants a fight on any grounds.

    Former US Treasury Secretary Larry Summers told “CNN News Central” that White House claims that Canada was inciting the trade war with the US were “absurd.”

    “Canada is our friend, Canada is not an important source of illegal immigrants, Canada is not an important source of illegal drugs,” said Summers, who served former Democratic President Bill Clinton. “Canada is an important market for American products, Canada is a crucial co-producer with American automobile companies that enable North America to compete with Asia and Europe,” he said.

    The vehemence of Trump’s incessant demands for the annexing of Canada caused alarm north of the border. At first the comments appeared ridiculous, but Trump’s consistent harassment of one of America’s closest friends is beginning to look like part of a 19th century-style imperialist strategy given his designs on Greenland and the Panama Canal.

    “Look, I’d like to see Canada become our 51st state,” Trump said Monday. “We don’t need them for the cars. We don’t need them for lumber. We don’t need them for anything.” The president added: “As a state, it’s different. As a state, it’s much different, and there are no tariffs.”

    Even if the trade war remains suspended in 30 days, the fallout may take years to overcome.

    Trump has succeeded in bringing Canadians together at a time of deep political polarization as Trudeau serves out his final months and a general election looms.

    Mark Carney, the former governor of the banks of Canada and England and a candidate for the Liberal Party leadership and therefore prime minister, said on “Quest Means Business” on CNN International that Canada was “offended” given its long friendship with the US. “We are a proud, independent nation. We view ourselves as the greatest country on Earth. We have been insulted on multiple occasions by senior members of the administration. We are not going to reciprocate in those insults.”

    Some Americans in border states with deep ties to Canada are also dismayed.

    “The long-term damage to our relations with Canada has really, really been severe. The feelings of Canadians, our best friend, our best partner, our best allies have been really devastated,” former Michigan Gov. James Blanchard, a Democrat, told CNN’s Phil Mattingly on Monday. “It’s going to take a lot of time, many months, maybe years, to repair the damage to our partnership with our trusted ally, Canada.”

    In a sign of that fury, fans at several NHL and NBA games in Canada have booed the US National Anthem. It’s more normal for Canadian crowds to fill in for anthem singers with microphone issues and belt out the Star-Spangled Banner in a show of affection for their southern neighbors.

    Thanks to Trump, the allies are singing a different tune now.



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  • Elon Musk’s Blitz Shakes U.S. Government as He Sweeps Through Agencies

    Elon Musk’s Blitz Shakes U.S. Government as He Sweeps Through Agencies


    In Elon Musk’s first two weeks in government, his lieutenants gained access to closely held financial and data systems, casting aside career officials who warned that they were defying protocols. They moved swiftly to shutter specific programs — and even an entire agency that had come into Mr. Musk’s cross hairs. They bombarded federal employees with messages suggesting they were lazy and encouraging them to leave their jobs.

    Empowered by President Trump, Mr. Musk is waging a largely unchecked war against the federal bureaucracy — one that has already had far-reaching consequences.

    Mr. Musk’s aggressive incursions into at least half a dozen government agencies have challenged congressional authority and potentially breached civil service protections.

    Top officials at the Treasury Department and the U.S. Agency for International Development who objected to the actions of his representatives were swiftly pushed aside. And Mr. Musk’s efforts to shut down U.S.A.I.D., a key source of foreign assistance, have reverberated around the globe.

    Mr. Musk, the world’s richest man, is sweeping through the federal government as a singular force, creating major upheaval as he looks to put an ideological stamp on the bureaucracy and rid the system of those who he and the president deride as “the deep state.”

    The rapid moves by Mr. Musk, who has a multitude of financial interests before the government, have represented an extraordinary flexing of power by a private individual.



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  • What Does Trump Really Want From Canada and Mexico?

    What Does Trump Really Want From Canada and Mexico?


    President Trump has long been clear that he would use tariffs as an economic sledgehammer against nations that refuse to bend to his demands.

    He has been far less clear about what, exactly, those demands are — a strategy that allows him to declare victory when he sees fit.

    Mr. Trump has said he wants Canada and Mexico to stop the flow of migrants at the border and curtail shipments of fentanyl. But at least publicly, he has offered only vague benchmarks to gauge their cooperation. Asked on Monday whether there was anything Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of Canada could offer to avoid tariffs, Mr. Trump said, “I don’t know.”

    “We have big deficits with Canada like we do with all countries,” Mr. Trump said from the Oval Office. “I’d like to see Canada become our 51st state.”

    In the end, Mr. Trump decided to postpone, for 30 days, the imposition of tariffs on Canada and Mexico, sidestepping a crisis that could have roiled the global economy. He suggested that he had wrenched concessions out of the United States’ neighbors, with Canada appointing a “fentanyl czar” and launching a joint strike force to combat organized crime and money laundering. Mexico, Mr. Trump said, promised to reinforce the U.S.-Mexico border with 10,000 members of its National Guard.

    But it was not clear that any of those measures were major concessions. Mr. Trudeau, in a social media post, described actions that were already in progress under his country’s $1.3 billion border plan, including the deployment of additional technology and personnel to the border. Just a sliver of the total amount of fentanyl seizures occur at the U.S.-Canada border, according to federal data.



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  • Trump’s 10% Tariff on Chinese Goods Takes Effect

    Trump’s 10% Tariff on Chinese Goods Takes Effect


    President Trump’s 10 percent tariff on all Chinese products went into effect at 12:01 a.m. Tuesday, the result of an executive order issued over the weekend aimed at pressuring Beijing to crack down on fentanyl shipments into the United States.

    The Chinese government swiftly announced a series of retaliatory steps, including additional tariffs on coal, natural gas, farm machinery and other products from the United States. It also said it had implemented restrictions on the export of certain critical minerals, many of which are used in the production of high-tech products.

    In addition, Chinese market regulators said they had launched an antimonopoly investigation into Google. Google is blocked from China’s internet, but the move may disrupt the company’s dealings with Chinese companies.

    The U.S. tariffs, which Mr. Trump said on Monday were an “opening salvo,” come on top of levies that the president imposed during his first term. Many Chinese products already faced a 10 or 25 percent tariff, and the move adds a 10 percent tariff to more than $400 billion of goods Americans purchase from China each year.

    Mr. Trump had been planning to hit America’s three largest trading partners, Canada, Mexico and China, with tariffs of varying degrees. But after days of frantic negotiations, Mr. Trump agreed to pause tariffs on Mexico and Canada for 30 days after the Canadian and Mexican governments promised to step up their oversight of fentanyl and the border.

    On Monday, Mr. Trump said he planned to speak with the Chinese leader Xi Jinping within the next 24 hours, but it was not clear when the phone call would take place. A White House official confirmed Monday afternoon that the tariffs with China were still set to take effect at midnight.



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  • US Treasury Sued Over DOGE’s Access To Sensitive Information

    US Treasury Sued Over DOGE’s Access To Sensitive Information


    Two unions and one advocacy group have filed a lawsuit to prevent billionaire Elon Musk‘s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) from accessing the highly sensitive U.S. Treasury payment system, which manages Social Security, Medicaid and other government operations.

    The lawsuit, filed in federal court in Washington, argues that Musk’s team is using the system in violation of multiple privacy laws, including 1974’s Privacy Act, and other regulations that dictate who is authorized to access the network.

    The Alliance for Retired Americans, the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) and the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) are seeking a restraining order to keep DOGE out of the system. Scott Bessent, President Donald Trump‘s Secretary of the Treasury, the Department of the Treasury and
    Bureau of the Fiscal Service were named as defendants in the civil action suit.

    “Granting DOGE-affiliated individuals full, continuous, and ongoing access to that information for an unspecified period of time means that retirees, taxpayers, federal employees, companies, and other individuals from all walks of life have no assurance that their information will receive the protection that federal law affords” the lawsuit alleges.

    Newsweek has emailed the Treasury Department on Monday night for comment.

    Bessent Trump Lutnick
    US Secretary of Treasury Scott Bessent speaks as President Donald Trump and US Secretary of Commerce nominee Howard Lutnick look on after Trump signed an executive order to create a US sovereign wealth fund, in…


    AFP/Getty Images

    Why It Matters

    Access to government payment systems would greatly boost DOGE’s aim of cutting down on federal government spending. Trump initially ordered the U.S. Office of Management and Budget to freeze federal grants and loans, only to later reverse the memo, meaning the administration is looking for other ways to stop cash flow in the short term.

    Musk is working as a “special government employee,” a White House Official told the AP on Monday. He reportedly does not receive a paycheck for his work.

    What To Know

    The new access, approved by Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Friday, gives Musk and his team entry into a system responsible for trillions of dollars in government payments, including Social Security checks and tax refunds.

    DOGE’s role, which was previously focused on reducing the number of federal workers, slashing programs, and cutting regulations, now extends to scrutinizing taxpayer transactions.

    Analysts and commentators have spoken out against Musk and Doge’s new access to Treasury Department data. Washington Senator Patty Murray said during a press conference on Monday that she and other top Democrats are “pulling the fire alarm” with Senate procedure over the recent move.

    The unions and advocacy group are represented in the new lawsuit by Public Citizen Litigation Group and State Democracy Defenders Fund.

    The complaint alleges that Bessent took punitive actions against an official who attempted to safeguard the data from unauthorized access. In addition, the suit alleges that DOGE was granted unrestricted access to this sensitive information that should have been protected.

    “Within a week of being sworn in as Treasury Secretary, Mr. Bessent placed that civil servant on leave and granted DOGE-affiliated individuals full access to the Bureau’s data and the computer systems that house them,” the suit states.

    What People Are Saying

    Elon Musk, Saturday on social media: “The DOGE team discovered, among other things, that payment approval officers at Treasury were instructed always to approve payments, even to known fraudulent or terrorist groups. They literally never denied a payment in their entire career. Not even once.”

    Richard Fiesta, executive director of the Alliance for Retired Americans, wrote in a statement: “We are outraged and alarmed that the Trump Administration has allowed so-called DOGE staff to violate the law and access millions of older Americans’ sensitive personal and financial data. Seniors are already the most vulnerable Americans to fraud and scams, with FBI data showing losses of $3.4 billion in 2023 alone. We urge the court to quickly act to stop this unlawful theft of our data.”

    What Happens Next

    Trump told reporters Monday in the Oval Office that Musk “has some very good ideas” but said that he has the final say over what happens.

    “Elon can’t do and won’t do anything without our approval,” Trump said. “He reports in.”

    Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer is calling on the Treasury Secretary to revoke the Musk team’s access to the Treasury Department’s payment system.

    Update 02/03/25 8:01 p.m. ET: This article has been updated with additional information.



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  • Senate confirms fossil fuel executive Chris Wright as energy secretary

    Senate confirms fossil fuel executive Chris Wright as energy secretary


    The Senate on Monday confirmed fossil fuel executive Chris Wright to serve as energy secretary, a key post to promote President Donald Trump’s efforts to achieve U.S. “energy dominance” in the global market.

    Wright, CEO of Denver-based Liberty Energy, has been one of the industry’s loudest voices against efforts to fight climate change. He says more fossil fuel production can lift people out of poverty around the globe and has promised to help Trump “unleash energy security and prosperity.”

    The Senate approved his nomination, 59-38.

    The centerpiece of Trump’s energy policy is “drill, baby, drill,” and he has pledged to dismantle what he calls Democrats’ “green new scam” in favor of boosting the production of fossil fuels such as oil, natural gas, and coal that emit planet-warming greenhouse gases.

    “President Trump shares my passion for energy,” Wright said at his confirmation hearing last month, promising that if confirmed, he would “work tirelessly to implement (Trump’s) bold agenda as an unabashed steward for all sources of affordable, reliable and secure American energy.”

    That includes oil and natural gas, coal, nuclear power, and hydropower, along with wind and solar power and geothermal energy, Wright said.

    Trump’s energy wishes are likely to run into real-world limits, including the fact that U.S. oil production is already at record levels. The federal government cannot force companies to drill for more oil, and production increases could lower prices and reduce profits.

    Wyoming Sen. John Barrasso, the second-ranking Republican, called Wright an innovator who “tells the truth about energy production.”

    While Wright “acknowledges that climate change is real, he knows more American energy is the solution — not the problem,” Barrasso said, calling Wright’s “energy realism” welcome news.

    Sen. Mike Lee, a Utah Republican who chairs the Energy and Natural Resources Committee, said Wright “understands that energy policies should focus on making energy abundant and affordable for families” and businesses.

    “Our nation deserves a champion for American energy and innovation, and we’ve got the Wright guy for the job,” Lee posted on X.

    Colorado’s two Democratic senators both supported their home-state nominee.

    “Chris Wright is a scientist who has dedicated his life to the study and use of energy. He believes in science and supports the research that will deliver the affordable, reliable and clean energy” that will lower costs and make the country more secure, Sen. John Hickenlooper said.

    “While we don’t always agree, we will work together because none of us have four years to wait to act,” Hickenlooper said.

    Sen. Michael Bennet called Wright a successful Colorado entrepreneur with deep expertise in energy innovation and technology. He pledged to work with Wright to “ensure Colorado continues to lead the country in energy production and innovation.”

    While acknowledging that climate change is real, Wright said at his hearing that he believes “there isn’t dirty energy or clean energy.” Rather, he said, there are different sources of energy with different tradeoffs.

    Wright, 60, has been chairman and CEO of Liberty Energy since 2011 and has no prior experience in government. He grew up in Colorado, earned an undergraduate degree at MIT, and did graduate work in electrical engineering at the University of California, Berkeley, and MIT. In 1992, he founded Pinnacle Technologies, which helped launch commercial shale gas production through hydraulic fracturing, or fracking.

    He later served as chairman of Stroud Energy, an early shale gas producer, before founding Liberty Resources in 2010.

    As energy secretary, Wright will join Interior Secretary Doug Burgum as a key player on energy policy. Both will serve on a new National Energy Council that Burgum will chair. The panel will include all executive branch agencies involved in energy permitting, production, generation, distribution, regulation, and transportation, with a focus on “cutting red tape” and boosting domestic energy production, Trump said. The council’s mission represents a near-complete reversal from actions pursued by Democratic President Joe Biden, who made fighting climate change a top priority.

    Wright said he would sever all ties across the energy industry if confirmed.



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  • New governor tests relations with North Carolina lawmakers with aid request for Helene recovery

    New governor tests relations with North Carolina lawmakers with aid request for Helene recovery


    RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — North Carolina Gov. Josh Stein asked state legislators Monday to roughly double their spending so far on recovery from Hurricane Helene, warning that waiting will cause more business closings, housing construction delays and students falling behind.

    Speaking in a mountain county hit by the historic flooding, the new Democratic governor said he wants his $1.07 billion request enacted now by the Republican-controlled General Assembly — rather than wait for the two-year budget that starts in July, when he’ll make an additional Helene appeal.

    At a news conference at a food bank in Mills River, about 260 miles (420 kilometers) west of Raleigh, Stein said the funds are urgently needed in the first half of the year “so that people can get their lives back together.”

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    “If we do not act, some businesses will not be here in the summer, and we will miss an entire building season before the winter weather comes again,” he warned, calling the funds a high priority.

    The largest chunks of his proposal, which contains no tax increases, would fund grants for struggling businesses; help repair and rebuild homes; clean up farm debris; fix private bridges and roads; and replace revenues spent or lost by local governments. There’s also money for summer school in districts that lost at least 15 instructional days shortly after Helene’s rampage last September.

    “We can ensure that our students are set up for long-term academic success.,” Stein said. “All of these components are necessary to building a safer, stronger and more resilient western North Carolina, and they are needed now.”

    The state legislature already appropriated last fall well over $900 million for relief and rebuilding efforts and earmarked a couple of hundred million more for that purpose in the future. New House Speaker Destin Hall has said getting bipartisan early-session Helene funding bill to Stein’s desk was a top priority.

    Advancing Monday’s package could provide an early test for Stein, who was sworn in last month, in his efforts to find consensus with Hall and Senate leader Phil Berger. While Republicans control both chambers, they are one seat short of a veto-proof majority.

    GOP Rep. Jake Johnson of Polk County, who served on a bipartisan Helene advisory committee organized by Stein last year, spoke at the news conference with an optimistic tone.

    “We will start reviewing the governor’s proposed budget and figuring out how we can get these dollars to people who need them the most right now,” Johnson said.

    Berger spokesperson Lauren Horsch said Monday that the Senate is reviewing Stein’s proposal and anticipates considering Helene legislation in the coming weeks. Even with the money already put toward the recovery, Horsch added, “there is still more we can do.”

    North Carolina state officials reported over 100 deaths from Helene with 74,000 homes and thousands of miles in both state-maintained and private roads damaged. The state budget office estimated that Helene caused a record $59.6 billion in damages and recovery needs. Congressional legislation approved in December and other federal actions are projected to provide over $15 billion to North Carolina for rebuilding.

    Helene made landfall last Sept. 26 in Florida’s Big Bend and swept far inland, upending life throughout the Southeast. Officials have warned that rebuilding from the widespread loss of homes and property would be lengthy and difficult.

    Stein’s request to spend money currently sitting in two reserves emphasizes speed.

    The $150 million sought for a home reconstruction, repair and buyout program is designed so such work can begin immediately while awaiting the distribution from Washington of similar housing assistance, which could take a year. The state program could assist at least 225 of 5,100 homes estimated to need rebuilding, Stein’s request says.

    Stein also wants $150 million for two business grant programs designed to provide up to $75,000 to companies that suffered significant sales and economic losses, it physical damages.

    Stein said on Monday that “taking on additional business debt is simply not the answer for small businesses that are already struggling.”

    In a special session last week, Tennessee lawmakers approved Gov. Bill Lee’s $470 million package offering further aid for communities ravaged by Helene in the northeast part of that state. The package will help local governments cover loan interest on recovery costs, fuel agricultural and business recovery, fund disaster-related unemployment aid, and pay for rebuilding a badly damaged high school.

    ___

    Associated Press writer Jonathan Mattise in Nashville, Tennessee, contributed to this report.



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