Pressure from the Elon Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency has led to senior government officials quitting in response to wholesale purges of career federal workers. DOGE is utilizing a chaotic approach to the federal government that echoes the tactics Musk used in his takeover of Twitter (now X), which transformed the social media site into a haven for racists and antisemites.
Despite an executive order from President Donald Trump that created DOGE and appointed Musk as its chair, the group has no real authority over the federal government. But DOGE has been interfering with multiple agencies across the country.
The Washington Post reports that David A. Lebryk, the highest-ranking career official at the Treasury Department, is quitting after a clash with Musk’s underlings. DOGE has reportedly been pressuring Lebryk for access to the agency’s payment system, which is used to pay out trillions of dollars on behalf of the government.
More than $6 trillion dollars flows through the system in question, which administers payments for vital functions like Social Security and Medicare benefits, tax refunds, payments to contractors, and federal salaries, among others.
“It’s like a bank heist and the bank is America,” a source within the federal government told reporter Marisa Kabas, in response to the Treasury Department incident. “Not really being hyperbolic to say control of those systems would allow an extremely fast collapse of the economy. Imagine it’s a plumbing system and someone takes a sledgehammer to the central pipe.”
Lebryk has worked at the Treasury Department since 1989 and said in an email to the department that Friday would be his last day on the job. “Please know that your work makes a difference and is so very important to the country,” he wrote.
Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy of Connecticut
“The richest men in the country—unelected and unaccountable—are seizing control of the government to steal from us to enrich themselves. To cut Medicare and elementary school funding and use that money to pad their pockets,” Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy of Connecticut wrote on X.
Mike Gwin, who previously served on the department’s communications team, wrote, “Moves like this undermine the bedrock that markets, businesses and taxpayers rely on.”
Meanwhile an official at the U.S. Agency for International Development accused DOGE of breaking the law in an email leaked to the Post.
“DOGE instructed me to violate the due process of our employees by issuing immediate termination notices to a group of employees without due process,” Nicholas Gottlieb, the director of employee and labor relations, wrote. “I was notified moments ago that I will be placed on administrative leave, effective immediately. It has been an honor working with you all.”
The Post also reported that a purge of senior officials at the agency was described as “illegal” in the email.
Federal workers are also being pressured to accept “buyout” offers apparently being orchestrated by DOGE. Trump has said cutting down on federal workers is a key priority of his administration, even though the recent plane crash at Ronald Reagan National Airport has highlighted the need for more staffing and oversight in key areas.
DOGE faces multiple lawsuits about overstepping its bounds, but Musk and the Trump administration appear undaunted.
Musk spent millions to elect Trump, sowing disinformation and confusion via advertising and his social media network, X. Now, with Trump in power, that chaos is coming to the federal government and the effects will be felt all over the world.
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