Search Results for

Despite the billionaire nominally stepping back, his loyalists remain in control of the group.

The gutting of AmeriCorps is yet another callous move made by Elon Musk’s team at the so-called Department of Government Efficiency. AmeriCorps is the national service program that sends full-time volunteers to some of the most vulnerable and underserved communities in the country, reaching where other public or private sector services fall short. In cutting $400 million in AmeriCorps grant funding, nearly a third of the program’s already modest $1.3 billion annual budget, DOGE has displaced over 30,000 volunteers and disrupted more than 1,000 programs. These cuts are already triggering ripple effects in communities across the country, from halted disaster recovery projects to abandoned school programs and shuttered food banks.

This week, the Trump brothers Eric and Don Jr. embarked on a world tour to make real estate deals while the administration used the threat of tariffs to push Starlink into other countries. Trump allies engaged in price fixing and fraud were given a pass seemingly as a reward for their donations to the president, our retirement savings were placed under the eye of a greedy insurance executive, and consumer protections were targeted by House Republicans eager to find tax breaks for the rich.

The Musk-damaged agency is unlikely to investigate whether Trump and his allies are profiting from advance knowledge about tariff changes or meme coin shenanigans.

This week, the Trump family continued to blur the line between politics and business with Trump 2028 merch and a billion dollar deal with Binance and MGX. Trump Jr. and Eric Trump’s potential stock sales and a new elite Washington club further expose this convergence. President Trump’s pardons of allies, Elon Musk’s apparent sway over personnel picks, and the rollback of consumer and coal miner protections add to the ethical concerns.

This past century of days, we have witnessed an administration wholly committed to executing this warped idea of governing. So let’s unpack a couple of ways that Donald Trump & Associates have promoted the corporate takeover of government.

This week’s stories show that from the Justice Department to the Federal Housing Finance Agency, the Trump admin is simultaneously eroding, side-stepping, and outright defying the checks and balances that distinguish a government that is accountable to the public from one that exists simply to enrich the elite. 

Musk Connection: Unknown
Other Corporate Affiliations: Lead Palantir’s platform infrastructure and cloud strategy
DOGE Deployment: Department of Health and Human Services

Musk Connection: Unknown
Other Corporate Affiliations: Palantir Technologies, blockchain search engine Elementus, software engineering and finance start up Theorem
DOGE Deployment: Chief Information Officer, Executive Office of the President

The Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service has been destroyed. It provided free collective-bargaining mediation and saved hundreds of millions of dollars in labor costs.

Musk Connections: SpaceX, Starlink, X (Twitter)

DOGE Deployments: White House, FHFA

Musk Connections: N/A

Other Corporate Connections: Founder of Russell Street Ventures, Co-founder of Aspire Health, Co-founder of CareBridge, Co-founder of Main Street Health. 

DOGE Deployments: HHS

Musk Connections: SpaceX, X (formerly Twitter), Boring Company

Other Corporate Connections: Board of Advisers, Atlas Society; Former owner, Mr. Yogato; Former owner, Thomas Foolery

DOGE Deployments: “Day-to-day leader.” SSA, GSA