I think it is all much darker than what you are imagining, Mr. Gawthorpe. The access to all this data, and the control of the public purse, by an individual who clearly respects no laws, could lead to extremely dangerous situations.
Hi Courtney - thanks for reading and responding. For one reason, they have actually not gone through the usual processes and background checks for federal contractors. Musk is employed not as a regular contractor but as a "special government employee", and he already seems to be violating the ethics and conflict-of-interest rules that go along with that. His DOGE employees got clearances so quickly that it cannot have been possible to do this through the usual channels, which as you know takes months.
Also, the concerns are not purely procedural ones of this nature - they are about why for instance a billionaire donor of the president with enormous conflicts of interest needs/wants to fire the Treasury staff responsible for disbursing government payments and take control of that system for himself. His stated aims in doing so (stopping Congressionally-mandated payments) are illegal and they would be illegal even if all of his federal contractor paperwork were in order.
‘Looking under the hood’ is not the appropriate term for having full access to highly confidential information not only about your competitors, but about every American taxpayer. That information could be used by scammers for identity fraud and who knows what other crimes. It could be manipulated to create false charges of tax evasion leading to prosecutions. Musk also has apparently captured control of the government’s payment systems, which would allow him to cut off payment to individuals, government bodies, and contractors. And to transfer funds to his own companies. There’s a reason that all this data is confidential and the ability to write checks is restricted to officials who have earned the trust of the government over many years, and who work within tightly controlled protocols. Actually, there are thousands of reasons.
I think it is all much darker than what you are imagining, Mr. Gawthorpe. The access to all this data, and the control of the public purse, by an individual who clearly respects no laws, could lead to extremely dangerous situations.
I completely agree - I guess I just write in a slightly understated way!
And most likely copying! Why are they pulling 24 hr days? With an outside server on the conference room table?! Nefarious...
Musk is the leader of the "brown shirts" He is not an employee of the US - he must be stopped!
Hi Courtney - thanks for reading and responding. For one reason, they have actually not gone through the usual processes and background checks for federal contractors. Musk is employed not as a regular contractor but as a "special government employee", and he already seems to be violating the ethics and conflict-of-interest rules that go along with that. His DOGE employees got clearances so quickly that it cannot have been possible to do this through the usual channels, which as you know takes months.
Also, the concerns are not purely procedural ones of this nature - they are about why for instance a billionaire donor of the president with enormous conflicts of interest needs/wants to fire the Treasury staff responsible for disbursing government payments and take control of that system for himself. His stated aims in doing so (stopping Congressionally-mandated payments) are illegal and they would be illegal even if all of his federal contractor paperwork were in order.
‘Looking under the hood’ is not the appropriate term for having full access to highly confidential information not only about your competitors, but about every American taxpayer. That information could be used by scammers for identity fraud and who knows what other crimes. It could be manipulated to create false charges of tax evasion leading to prosecutions. Musk also has apparently captured control of the government’s payment systems, which would allow him to cut off payment to individuals, government bodies, and contractors. And to transfer funds to his own companies. There’s a reason that all this data is confidential and the ability to write checks is restricted to officials who have earned the trust of the government over many years, and who work within tightly controlled protocols. Actually, there are thousands of reasons.