The almighty Musk: How the world’s richest man became Washington’s most powerful bureaucrat

After accruing immense governmental power over the past month, tech billionaire Elon Musk got his biggest boost yet this week when President Donald Trump signed an executive order giving him broad authorities over the hiring and firing of federal workers.

After accruing immense governmental power over the past month, tech billionaire Elon Musk got his biggest boost yet this week when President Donald Trump signed an executive order giving him broad authorities over the hiring and firing of federal workers. Musk heads into the weekend not only as the wealthiest man on the planet but also, as described by one critic, the “most powerful bureaucrat in the history of America.” Over three weeks, Musk’s role leading the so-called “Department of Government Efficiency” has ballooned far beyond what many foresaw, raising fundamental questions of a possible constitutional crisis and spurring dozens of lawsuits. Hardly a few hours go by without fresh headlines about DOGE staffers imposing new rules government agencies, sidelining and firing career officials, and cutting budgets for programs they don’t like. The new executive order Trump signed Tuesday paves the way for mass layoffs across the federal workforce by installing a “DOGE Team Lead” at each agency and directing cabinet secretaries and all agency directors to coordinate staffing decisions with Musk’s operation. It also gives DOGE authority to block agencies from filling vacancies with new hires, unless the top official at that agency personally overrules that recommendation. And, it imposes a strict new rule that only one new federal employee can be hired for every four that leave as part of the DOGE cuts, with some exceptions for law enforcement and immigration. At the Oval Office signing ceremony, Musk responded to critiques that he’s become the very thing he claims to be fighting — an unelected bureaucrat with enormous power — by pointing to the 2024 results: “You couldn’t ask for a stronger mandate from the public.”