'"They've done their homework": Musk's surprising digital influence on Washington'
In a sudden shift, seemingly ordinary federal IT systems have transformed into a powerful ideological force.
TroibNews 
Elon Musk’s initiative to streamline Washington’s bureaucracy is targeting a particularly sensitive sector: federal IT infrastructure.
Musk and his allies have successfully accessed the Treasury Department’s payment systems and gained significant control at the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), which has enabled them to send mass emails to federal employees regarding early buyouts. Unnamed federal officials disclosed to The Washington Post that there are now concerns about DOGE gaining access to student loan data.
The impact of these actions has transformed previously mundane federal IT systems into tools for removing programs that Musk perceives as either unnecessary or excessively “woke.”
This initiative sheds light on the extent to which government operations rely on technological systems that can potentially be switched on or off at will. Additionally, it tests the limits of authority wielded by a single official with White House backing.
“They've done their homework,” Ann Lewis, former director of Technology Transformation Services under the General Services Administration, stated. “Going where the majority of the volume of government transaction data is seems very strategic.”
This narrative is derived from Digital Future Daily, PMG’s afternoon newsletter that covers the intersection of technology and politics.
On the surface, Musk’s objectives align with longtime good-government reformers who have sought to overhaul the unwieldy federal hiring and procurement processes accumulated over many years.
Moreover, this endeavor is theoretically consistent with DOGE’s mission: According to Trump’s directive that formally established the department through a simple renaming of the existing U.S. Digital Service, the intent is to “implement the President’s DOGE Agenda, by modernizing Federal technology and software to maximize governmental efficiency and productivity.” Trump also mandated that DOGE, OPM, and the Office of Management and Budget “integrate modern technology,” assigning DOGE the role of advising on “specific best practices for the human resources function in each agency.”
However, many governance experts have expressed alarm, even horror, at the establishment of DOGE.
DOGE has reportedly utilized its access to federal data to specifically target diversity, equity, and inclusion programs, thus initiating an ideological agenda that diverges significantly from the stated goals of productivity and efficiency.
Furthermore, serious cybersecurity concerns have arisen regarding the operations of Musk's teams. A lawsuit claims a Musk associate installed a private email server at OPM to facilitate direct mass emails to civil servants. DOGE spokesperson Katie Miller has denied the server allegations, referring PMG to an X post where she claimed, “There’s nothing illegal and no server, just more made up tall tales from uninformed career bureaucrats who probably telework.”
Lewis observes that by establishing DOGE within USDS and placing trusted individuals like Thomas Shedd in key tech roles — with Shedd now serving as director of TTS, the agency Lewis once led — Musk is positioning himself to extend his digital influence through the bureaucratic machinery rather than through more visible and accountable top-level appointments.
She notes that if DOGE integrates itself within the General Services Administration, which encompasses TTS, it could gain access to GSA’s tech talent and its multi-billion-dollar acquisition services fund, money derived from contract acquisition fees controlled solely by GSA, which can be utilized for additional hiring and procurement.
There’s also the potential for forming alliances that might support DOGE’s objectives.
“They found the two organizations [USDS and TTS] in the federal government where a lot of formerly private-sector tech talent lives,” Lewis remarked.
Despite the intended reforms, many experts view DOGE’s direct intervention within the deeper functions of the federal government as suspect, particularly if it has the capacity to modify actual code, as Wired highlighted in a report.
“There’s no good reason they should be able to directly edit code and stop or change payments, and to ignore the most basic controls around them,” Robert Gordon, a deputy assistant to former President Joe Biden and assistant secretary for financial resources under Biden’s Department of Health and Human Services, said.
Gordon reiterated sentiments shared by others advocating for governmental reform, positing that while the federal bureaucracy does require reform, DOGE’s aggressive methods could lead to undesirable outcomes and potentially result in legal challenges to its constitutionality that might reverse its initiatives.
The intersection of political decision-making and direct access to administrative privileges by Musk and DOGE exemplifies the Silicon Valley ethos characterizing Trump 2.0: “We’ve always said that we could run the government more efficiently than the government, and now we’re going to do it, existing regulations or constitutional authorities be damned.”
Gordon expressed astonishment that anyone involved in governance would require such direct access to sensitive IT systems.
“Normally political appointees like me want to stay 100 miles away from these processes,” he noted. “I can imagine wanting access in some circumstances, to see them yourself…but the idea of monkeying with the actual payments, and having the authority to change them, is mind-blowing. It’s a key thing that normal politicals stay the hell away from.”
The key distinction, of course, is that Musk and his cadre of young experts operate outside the norm of “normal politicals.” While legal hurdles appear imminent, the political landscape has, for now, shifted to the realm of system administration.
Sanya Singh contributed to this report for TROIB News
Musk and his allies have successfully accessed the Treasury Department’s payment systems and gained significant control at the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), which has enabled them to send mass emails to federal employees regarding early buyouts. Unnamed federal officials disclosed to The Washington Post that there are now concerns about DOGE gaining access to student loan data.
The impact of these actions has transformed previously mundane federal IT systems into tools for removing programs that Musk perceives as either unnecessary or excessively “woke.”
This initiative sheds light on the extent to which government operations rely on technological systems that can potentially be switched on or off at will. Additionally, it tests the limits of authority wielded by a single official with White House backing.
“They've done their homework,” Ann Lewis, former director of Technology Transformation Services under the General Services Administration, stated. “Going where the majority of the volume of government transaction data is seems very strategic.”
This narrative is derived from Digital Future Daily, PMG’s afternoon newsletter that covers the intersection of technology and politics.
On the surface, Musk’s objectives align with longtime good-government reformers who have sought to overhaul the unwieldy federal hiring and procurement processes accumulated over many years.
Moreover, this endeavor is theoretically consistent with DOGE’s mission: According to Trump’s directive that formally established the department through a simple renaming of the existing U.S. Digital Service, the intent is to “implement the President’s DOGE Agenda, by modernizing Federal technology and software to maximize governmental efficiency and productivity.” Trump also mandated that DOGE, OPM, and the Office of Management and Budget “integrate modern technology,” assigning DOGE the role of advising on “specific best practices for the human resources function in each agency.”
However, many governance experts have expressed alarm, even horror, at the establishment of DOGE.
DOGE has reportedly utilized its access to federal data to specifically target diversity, equity, and inclusion programs, thus initiating an ideological agenda that diverges significantly from the stated goals of productivity and efficiency.
Furthermore, serious cybersecurity concerns have arisen regarding the operations of Musk's teams. A lawsuit claims a Musk associate installed a private email server at OPM to facilitate direct mass emails to civil servants. DOGE spokesperson Katie Miller has denied the server allegations, referring PMG to an X post where she claimed, “There’s nothing illegal and no server, just more made up tall tales from uninformed career bureaucrats who probably telework.”
Lewis observes that by establishing DOGE within USDS and placing trusted individuals like Thomas Shedd in key tech roles — with Shedd now serving as director of TTS, the agency Lewis once led — Musk is positioning himself to extend his digital influence through the bureaucratic machinery rather than through more visible and accountable top-level appointments.
She notes that if DOGE integrates itself within the General Services Administration, which encompasses TTS, it could gain access to GSA’s tech talent and its multi-billion-dollar acquisition services fund, money derived from contract acquisition fees controlled solely by GSA, which can be utilized for additional hiring and procurement.
There’s also the potential for forming alliances that might support DOGE’s objectives.
“They found the two organizations [USDS and TTS] in the federal government where a lot of formerly private-sector tech talent lives,” Lewis remarked.
Despite the intended reforms, many experts view DOGE’s direct intervention within the deeper functions of the federal government as suspect, particularly if it has the capacity to modify actual code, as Wired highlighted in a report.
“There’s no good reason they should be able to directly edit code and stop or change payments, and to ignore the most basic controls around them,” Robert Gordon, a deputy assistant to former President Joe Biden and assistant secretary for financial resources under Biden’s Department of Health and Human Services, said.
Gordon reiterated sentiments shared by others advocating for governmental reform, positing that while the federal bureaucracy does require reform, DOGE’s aggressive methods could lead to undesirable outcomes and potentially result in legal challenges to its constitutionality that might reverse its initiatives.
The intersection of political decision-making and direct access to administrative privileges by Musk and DOGE exemplifies the Silicon Valley ethos characterizing Trump 2.0: “We’ve always said that we could run the government more efficiently than the government, and now we’re going to do it, existing regulations or constitutional authorities be damned.”
Gordon expressed astonishment that anyone involved in governance would require such direct access to sensitive IT systems.
“Normally political appointees like me want to stay 100 miles away from these processes,” he noted. “I can imagine wanting access in some circumstances, to see them yourself…but the idea of monkeying with the actual payments, and having the authority to change them, is mind-blowing. It’s a key thing that normal politicals stay the hell away from.”
The key distinction, of course, is that Musk and his cadre of young experts operate outside the norm of “normal politicals.” While legal hurdles appear imminent, the political landscape has, for now, shifted to the realm of system administration.
Sanya Singh contributed to this report for TROIB News
