Elon Musk’s 130 Days in the Trump Administration: A One-Sheet Zine

Creating Opportunities for Musk Ventures

On top of Musk-controlled companies’ existing government contracts, the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) worked diligently to increase the opportunities Musk had to profit from government operations, and to cut through red tape meant to ensure that private companies operate with public safety in mind.

For example…

• The Social Security Administration (SSA) began using X for official public communications, and an SSA representative recommended “subscrib[ing] to the official SSA X account” for agency updates. This requires creating an X account, though the SSA heavily serves elderly individuals who may have trouble navigating social media. (#27)
• DOGE is gutting the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) while Musk eyes privatization of NOAA weather satellites–which could present a business opportunity for Starlink, a satellite internet constellation operated by Starlink Services, LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Musk’s aerospace company SpaceX. (#58)
• The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) redrew hazard zones and gave SpaceX final approval to launch Starship, even after failed test flights exploded in January and March, raining debris over multiple countries. (#70)

Dismantling Regulators

By getting rid of regulatory agencies meant to check unmitigated corporate greed from destroying our environment and selling dangerous products to the public, Musk gutted public safety to expedite his “innovations.” Lowering these standards means Musk’s companies can rush their products to market…no matter the true cost to everyday people.

• The Trump Administration plans to cut potentially thousands of U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) employees, after the EPA found that SpaceX violated the Clean Water Act, investigated Tesla’s actions at its Austin Facility, and investigated an xAI facility in Tennessee for air pollution. (#40)

• DOGE reportedly fired Food and Drug Administration (FDA) employees with oversight on Neuralink, a neurotechnology company founded by Musk that’s focused on developing implantable brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) — including firing “20 people in the FDA’s office of neurological and physical medicine devices, several of whom worked on Neuralink.” (#45)

• The Trump Administration attempted to fire hundreds of FAA employees, including some who directly contribute to air safety, after the FAA required SpaceX to abide by environmental requirements. (#42)

• President Trump tried to fire over 90% of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), which put two Musk companies — Boring and Tesla — on its “dirty dozen” list of worst workplace safety offenders. (#61)

Disabling Agencies

If you can’t get rid of them wholesale, you can always make it virtually impossible for them to do their jobs. By severely restricting the effectiveness of key agencies, investigations and regulations can’t proceed or be enforced.

• DOGE deactivated agency credit cards and imposed $1 spending limits, paralyzing the work of agencies, including those that regulate Musk’s companies — such as NOAA, the FAA, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). (#53)

• The Trump Administration began requiring any EPA spending greater than $50,000 to obtain DOGE approval, potentially allowing Musk to slow down environmental enforcement actions, like past investigations into Tesla and SpaceX for hazardous waste dumping and other alleged activity. (#41)

• President Trump attempted to shut down the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), which “raises a potential conflict of interest, as Musk’s company was under investigation by USAID shortly before [Trump] began calling for the shutdown.” (#49)

• Musk’s cost-cutting team is laying off workers at the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), the auto safety agency investigating Tesla for crashes stemming from its “full self-driving” and remote control features. (#55)