These are some seriously wild times, not just in the world but in the U.S. government. It feels like every time you blink, something huge is happening. This afternoon, the President signed a new executive order with Elon Musk standing right next to him, and let’s just say it’s a game-changer. No exaggeration, it pretty much gives Musk a massive amount of control over the entire government. That might sound crazy, and sure, it doesn’t mean he’s calling the shots on things like foreign policy or major legislation. But let’s break down what this actually does.
Under the new executive order, a DOGE Team Lead will be assigned to every federal agency and department. These team leads will have the final say on hiring and firing decisions in their departments, and they’ll report directly to Musk since he’s in charge of DOGE. The order also outlines a government downsizing plan basically, for every four government employees who leave, only one new person can be hired. It also introduces new reasons people can be fired and puts DOGE, aka Musk, in charge of managing the overall downsizing process.
And it gets even deeper. Each agency’s hiring plan has to be approved in consultation with its DOGE Team Lead, who will decide which positions should actually be filled. If they say a position shouldn’t be filled, it stays empty unless the agency’s top official overrules them. On top of that, every DOGE Team Lead has to send monthly hiring reports to the United States DOGE Service (USDS) Administrator.
Not gonna lie, this is next-level. It’s basically creating a whole new layer of government control that reports straight to Musk. It’s like an entirely parallel power structure sitting on top of the existing government, where Musk’s team is watching over everything and deciding who stays and who goes. He’s already operating like an independent force, and the President just seems to be signing off on things after they’ve already happened. It’s hard not to see this as a massive shift in how power works in the U.S. government.