The Musk factor

For over two centuries, the American constitution has served as the sacred blueprint of American democracy, guarding against tyranny, both foreign and domestic. Originally, the constitution was the antidote to extreme differences between the original 13 colonies. It guaranteed a new form of effective government, free of influence from any outside nation. Article 2, Section 1 of the constitution is as follows: "The executive power shall be vested in a President of the United States of America."

Thus, the constitution advocates for the existence of a single executive, elected by the electoral college. This directive was followed by every single administration in the nation’s history until there was an exception. This exception is the second Trump administration. Today, a shadow executive wields power in this administration.

Led by Elon Musk, an ‘adviser’ in the Trump administration, the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) acts as a parallel authority. Slashing the federal workforce, putting an end to overseas funding for humanitarian purposes and firing people pivotal to the management of the nuclear arsenal, DOGE has taken unprecedented actions against the civil service. These actions are, however, being questioned as blatantly violative of the constitution.

Dismantling USAID, a respected governmental agency, is not in the purview of the executive branch. It is, by no means, up to an unelected billionaire to shut it down with a single stroke of the pen. Establishing and disbanding governmental agencies is the prerogative of the people exercised by them through their elected representatives.

Elon Musk has applied his aggressive tactics in his role as an ‘adviser’ as well. In total, he has fired 9,500 people, with more than 75,000 people offered a voluntary buy-out. It includes people serving in the IRS, the Social Security administration and other federal departments as well. By waging a war on the non-partisan civil service, Elon has undermined the morale of the federal workforce, thus adversely impacting their efficiency. Moreover, unilateral firings of federal employees have sparked conflict over civil service protections with Congress investigating potential violations of relevant labour laws.

Under the cover of overhauling the government and making it more efficient, DOGE has eliminated a myriad of contracts awarded by the federal government to private companies. This includes Musk’s rivals as well, demonstrating a clear conflict of interest. In addition to wrongfully terminating people’s employment and slashing funding unconstitutionally, Elon seems to be collecting benefits for himself as well. He is set to receive $5.2 billion in contracts from the Department of Defense. In total, he has 52 ongoing contracts with seven governmental agencies.

DOGE’s actions have hampered Congress’s efforts to keep the executive branch in check. First, DOGE has halted or redirected funds appropriated by Congress for various programs. For instance, Congress appropriated $1.2 billion for environmental justice grants, designed to be distributed through the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). DOGE froze the grant and reallocated the money to a new ‘public-private green infrastructure pilot’ involving tech companies, including Tesla. This has raised concerns regarding conflict of interest.

This was done without any approval from Congress, thus directly violating the Impoundment Control Act. It has led to harsh criticism from lawmakers. DOGE has also circumvented traditional congressional oversight by implementing changes without Congressional approval.

Musk's actions have created a constitutional and political storm, testing the limits of executive authority as well as openly challenging the constitutional authority of Congress. All of this begs the question: How did Elon Musk become so influential in US politics that some media outlets have chosen to describe him as ‘co-president’? The Musk phenomenon is certainly mind-boggling, considering he was a Democrat supporter not long ago.

Musk’s influence can be traced back to his acquisition of X. In October 2022, X, formerly Twitter, was purchased by him for $ 44 billion. Seemingly, the reason behind the acquisition of X was to reinforce free speech and get rid of all the speech-constraining fact-checking algorithms. Soon after acquiring the ownership of the platform, Elon Musk unbanned extremist and polarising figures such as Trump and Tate.

This earned Musk admiration from the right-wing segments of American society. Musk, under the false pretence of free speech, has played a pivotal role in spreading hate speech against minority communities. For instance, in November 2023, he amplified hate against Muslims for “replacing white people in the West”. By endorsing this, Musk legitimised a hateful narrative that often targets Muslims and immigrants.

There is significant evidence that suggests that the algorithm promotes hate-spreading content, often posted by rightwing influencers. This algorithmic boost is partly due to the fact that Elon interacts with such posts by liking, reposting and commenting on them, which causes them to get wider traction.

X is also frequently used to spread anti-woke content, along with the spread of typical conspiracy theories. Elon has repeatedly made his stance on Covid-19 clear. He is a Covid sceptic, often downplaying its detrimental consequences. He reinstated multiple accounts that had been banned for spreading misinformation about the Covid-19 vaccine.

In addition to that, his claims of promoting free speech are a farce as well. Elon Musk has suspended numerous accounts of people disagreeing with him. For instance, Drew Harwell, a Washington Post journalist, had his account suspended without any clear violation.

Musk’s actions reflect a distinct pattern: he supports ‘free speech’ for his allies but suppresses that of his critics, which does not conform to or endorse his beliefs.

This is visible in his political life as well. Elon Musk has frequently suggested the impeachment of “activist judges”. By using the phrase “activist judges”, he heaps criticism on a set of judges who have dared pass judgments considered as blocking the actions of this administration.

Even judges whose social viewpoints diverge from Elon’s have been subjected to a series of threats and intimidation tactics. Specifically, this year, Judge Paul Engelmayer faced criticism from Elon Musk and his supporters following his ruling to curb DOGE’s overreach.

Although making X the mouthpiece of the right-wing movement got Musk's tremendous support, there was something that proved far more helpful to him, enabling him to increase his influence over the GOP lawmakers and Donald Trump. It was the monetary contributions that he made to Donald Trump and his allies.

According to The Wall Street Journal, Musk has donated over $277 million to the Republican Party through America Public Action Committee (PAC). His financial contributions effectively earned him immense influence in this administration, with people often calling him a co-president, given his outsize role in the decision-making.

Elon Musk’s growing oligarchic influence is deeply harmful, for it undermines democracy, manipulates public opinion and prioritises corporate power over the collective interests of the people.

By funding right-wing politicians, controlling a major social media platform, and leveraging his tech monopolies, Musk shapes policies that favour the ultra-wealthy while suppressing working people’s rights and influencing the electoral process. His actions have led to more pronounced political polarisation, weak labour protections and a media landscape flooded with misinformation and fake news, all while he avoids taxes, exploits subsidies and pressures governments to serve his interests.

For ordinary citizens, this means disempowerment and marginalisation manifest from their reduced voice in politics, fewer economic opportunities, and a society increasingly ruled by a handful of unaccountable billionaires. These developments suggest the making of a kleptocratic system that the American founding fathers rebelled against and formed the constitution for.

The writer lives in New York and aspires to be a legal scholar. He can be reached at: alibilal4471@gmail.com