Elon Musk hardly needs an introduction. The South African entrepreneur who co-founded PayPal has made a billion-dollar name for himself with electric cars and space travel. He’s both polarizing and consequential, but among the world’s richest, he is far from the most subtle.

Many outrageous details of his life and career have captivated the public and faced scrutiny, just as many have mysteriously completely evaded the spotlight. From his takeover (not founding) of Tesla to his purchase of Twitter and rebrand to X, he has demonstrated his affinity for the limelight in numerous ways for the better part of the 21st century. 

What stands out among all the spectacles he has made of himself is his massive donation to President Donald Trump’s election campaign last year and his insertion of himself into the U.S. federal government only weeks into Trump’s second term.

Musk has shown blatant disregard for not only the law but also the well-being of the American people in his seizure of the executive branch, and we will all be worse off if he is allowed to continue.

Apart from his non-elected, informal role as an advisor to the president, Musk holds the official position of head of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), a pun on Musk’s pet-project cryptocurrency Dogecoin, which is a play on the internet meme.  

Despite its name, DOGE is not a department established by Congress. Under constitutional law, its primary function is to recommend budget cuts to the president before a proposal is submitted to Congress. However, Musk and his employees have been accused of exceeding this limitation.

Two government employees affiliated with DOGE gained access to Treasury payment management systems that oversee $5 trillion in annual funds, including Medicare and Social Security payments. A judge has recently granted these employees limited access going forward, but the extent of what they have accessed and done with the information is unclear.

Elsewhere in the federal government, DOGE staffers have faced even fewer consequences for infiltrating other departments’ functions and systems. A judge recently decided not to block DOGE from accessing data in the Department of Labor after federal employee unions filed suit.

The plaintiffs in the lawsuits against DOGE generally share the concern that Musk is undermining state institutions for his own personal gain.

He has faced investigations from the National Labor Relations Board, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the Federal Aviation Administration and other regulators for alleged misconduct by his companies. These offices have coincidentally been facing funding freezes and terminations under Trump’s direction.

Beyond the larger question of Musk’s authority and motives, there is also the matter of whom he has enlisted to carry out his orders. Six employees of DOGE were identified by Wired as a group of strikingly young software engineers with no experience in the federal government and questionable backgrounds.

One staffer resigned after racist social media posts from an account connected to him were uncovered and another staffer who still works at DOGE was previously fired for leaking company secrets online.

From funding freezes and mass layoffs to the censorship of government websites, Musk and his subordinates have been implicated as the driving force behind much of the seismic shifts in the federal bureaucracy, often by Musk’s admission.

Musk has stated his intention to see the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) shut down completely after Trump abruptly halted many of its programs and put its officials on leave. 

There have been far more instances of Musk and his associates exercising authority they, in all likelihood, do not have under the law. What matters more than the specifics is whether they can or will be restrained.

No matter his intentions, he has clear conflicts of interest as someone whose companies receive contracts from the federal government, and his reckless attitude does not inspire confidence.

All of the upheaval and bluster that has gone on in the weeks since Trump took office with Musk at his side has ominous undertones. Obviously, the American people did not elect Musk for president, nor did they elect him to his current position. 

Musk’s contribution to Trump’s campaign is estimated to be at least $260 million in total. I hope, for everyone’s sake, that it was not effectively his purchase of the U.S. federal government.