Jonathan Swan

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.

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.

Well, there's been so much, but one of the big signs of Musk's imprint was an email that went out to roughly 2 million federal workers, which is really kind of in itself extraordinary. You know, this is not something that normally happens. And they sent out this email offering them the option to resign, but be paid through the end of September.

Well, there's been so much, but one of the big signs of Musk's imprint was an email that went out to roughly 2 million federal workers, which is really kind of in itself extraordinary. You know, this is not something that normally happens. And they sent out this email offering them the option to resign, but be paid through the end of September.

And the email subject line, fork in the road, was the same one that Musk used in an email he sent to Twitter employees when he offered them severance packages in late 2022. And it says, basically, we'd love you to resign, quit your lower productivity public sector job and take a higher productivity private sector job. So it literally devalued their jobs.

And the email subject line, fork in the road, was the same one that Musk used in an email he sent to Twitter employees when he offered them severance packages in late 2022. And it says, basically, we'd love you to resign, quit your lower productivity public sector job and take a higher productivity private sector job. So it literally devalued their jobs.

Exactly. And then Musk goes further and starts targeting other departments. So where does he start? Musk began as a matter of priority with the Treasury Department. His team, and this goes back to December during the transition, but they became fixated on the payment system for the entire federal government that literally distributes more than $5 trillion a year in federal spending.