Technology serves as a tool in Elon Musk's efforts to overwhelm federal government employees during his political campaign.
A series of digital infiltrations targeting US government agencies, including the Treasury, Personnel, and USAID, has raised concerns about the involvement of tech mogul Elon Musk, a known supporter of President Trump.
According to reports, this digital infiltration is not of the physical kind, as described by Timothy Snyder, a Yale historian. Instead, it is being executed by a small group of former Elon Musk employees, armed with zip drives, following instructions from the billionaire entrepreneur.
The demonstrations against this infiltration have been vocal, decrying the displacement of career civil servants by a small group of young Silicon Valley engineers and coders. The protests have even included Democratic members of Congress.
One of the most controversial actions attributed to Elon Musk's team is their access to sensitive data at the Treasury Department, including personal information such as Social Security numbers and bank account information of federal benefit recipients.
At the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Elon Musk's team reportedly gained access to all of the agency's Google sites, following orders given to NOAA employees. Similarly, at USAID, Elon Musk's team attempted to access classified information and security systems, which were initially stopped by top agency security officials. However, these officials were subsequently put on leave, allowing the DOGE team to access the classified material they were seeking.
The protests have been focused on Elon Musk, not President Trump, and have occurred at the headquarters of the Treasury Department, Office of Personnel Management, and U.S. Agency for International Development.
Career Treasury official David Lebryk resigned after Trump's Treasury Secretary, Steve Mnuchin, granted Elon Musk's team access to the computer system of the Bureau of Fiscal Service, which handles about 90% of the federal government's annual spending.
The government worker unions are starting to fight back by filing lawsuits to test whether federal judges have the backbone to resist what appears to be an unabashed assault on the rule of law and long-established norms of governance.
However, it is unclear whether Trump and Elon Musk would obey potential court rulings ordering them and their underlings to stand down.
Elon Musk's actions are driven by a personal sense of efficiency and anti-wokeism, as reported by Paul Barrett, deputy director of the Center for Business and Human Rights at New York University's Stern School of Business. Barrett frequently writes about technology and democracy.
Elon Musk's actions are aimed at controlling technology and intimidating bureaucrats to undermine the executive branch's ordinary functioning, according to analysts. The ongoing digital infiltrations are a significant departure from traditional coups, as they are carried out not by armed men storming government buildings, but by tech-savvy individuals wielding digital tools.
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