Jonathan Swan

chin-stroking professor doing an analysis of government from the outside and, you know, let me sit down at my table and write you some recommendations. You know, Walter Isaacson wrote a biography about Elon Musk where people who know him talk about, quote-unquote, demon mode, which he goes into, which is this sort of manic energy, staying up all night, sleeping on the floor of the factory. He's

Twitter, setting unrealistic deadlines, doing mass layoffs because he thinks stuff aren't hardcore enough. He's effectively trying to do that to the federal government. His team have moved beds into agency offices. He has an office space in the West Wing. And he also has been working out of this opulent Secretary of War suite in the Eisenhower Executive Office building.

Twitter, setting unrealistic deadlines, doing mass layoffs because he thinks stuff aren't hardcore enough. He's effectively trying to do that to the federal government. His team have moved beds into agency offices. He has an office space in the West Wing. And he also has been working out of this opulent Secretary of War suite in the Eisenhower Executive Office building.

And he's brought with him this cohort from Silicon Valley, people who've worked for him at Tesla and SpaceX, and he's installed them in some of the most important parts of government. So this is Elon Musk getting his hands into government, doing what he's done at these companies. And remember, we should say he's been in the private sector, probably the singular entrepreneur, of our lifetime.

And he's brought with him this cohort from Silicon Valley, people who've worked for him at Tesla and SpaceX, and he's installed them in some of the most important parts of government. So this is Elon Musk getting his hands into government, doing what he's done at these companies. And remember, we should say he's been in the private sector, probably the singular entrepreneur, of our lifetime.

But if you understand what he's done with his business, he is marked by incredible risk-taking, extreme risk-taking, and a willingness to, if he or his employees consider regulations or laws to be quote-unquote dumb, he pushes them, and particularly at SpaceX, to defy those regulations, just do it anyway. And If people want to sue, so be it.

But if you understand what he's done with his business, he is marked by incredible risk-taking, extreme risk-taking, and a willingness to, if he or his employees consider regulations or laws to be quote-unquote dumb, he pushes them, and particularly at SpaceX, to defy those regulations, just do it anyway. And If people want to sue, so be it.

If it gets to the mission of what he's trying to accomplish, we're seeing that kind of approach inside government right now.

If it gets to the mission of what he's trying to accomplish, we're seeing that kind of approach inside government right now.

Well, the first sign of Musk and his team moving into government, the first physical sign, was literally right after Trump's inauguration, the day after, workers in the Eisenhower Executive Office building, which is the big building next to the West Wing, they show up to work, and this building houses some operations for the United States Digital Service.

Well, the first sign of Musk and his team moving into government, the first physical sign, was literally right after Trump's inauguration, the day after, workers in the Eisenhower Executive Office building, which is the big building next to the West Wing, they show up to work, and this building houses some operations for the United States Digital Service.

This is an operation that was set up in 2014 to fix the federal government's online services. And they find a sticky note saying, Doge... D-O-G-E on a door to a suite that was once used as a workspace.

This is an operation that was set up in 2014 to fix the federal government's online services. And they find a sticky note saying, Doge... D-O-G-E on a door to a suite that was once used as a workspace.

Yeah, literally a sticky note on the door saying Doge. And this used to be a workspace for senior technologists at the agency. And inside there were these black backpacks that were strewed about. You had these young engineers, many of them in their 20s.

Yeah, literally a sticky note on the door saying Doge. And this used to be a workspace for senior technologists at the agency. And inside there were these black backpacks that were strewed about. You had these young engineers, many of them in their 20s.

Some of them were wearing T-shirts with blazers over them, roaming the halls, unfamiliar faces, didn't have security badges on that federal employees typically don't. And it turned out that this was the Musk army, the cohort of young men who work for Musk or who are in his network. And they have come to Washington to help Musk on his mission of slashing the federal government.

Some of them were wearing T-shirts with blazers over them, roaming the halls, unfamiliar faces, didn't have security badges on that federal employees typically don't. And it turned out that this was the Musk army, the cohort of young men who work for Musk or who are in his network. And they have come to Washington to help Musk on his mission of slashing the federal government.

Yeah. And they're not wasting any time. My colleagues and I have talked to federal employees at different agencies, and it's really quite extraordinary. I mean, these Musk allies are interviewing people across agencies, asking them, what have you done lately? Give me examples of work you've done.

Yeah. And they're not wasting any time. My colleagues and I have talked to federal employees at different agencies, and it's really quite extraordinary. I mean, these Musk allies are interviewing people across agencies, asking them, what have you done lately? Give me examples of work you've done.

Exactly. And when the federal employees ask them, well, who are you? In some cases, they're refusing to give their names because they don't want to be doxed or they'll just give their first name. So there's this sort of atmosphere of we're putting the fear of God into all of you. And there is a real hostility that they're showing to the federal workforce.