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Say I'm Jimantha O'Wong, the person in charge of some important federal door through which only people authorized by the federal government (executive branch) may pass. Maybe everybody's taxes are inside it. Or it's there to protect the Declaration of Independence from Nicholas Cage.

If President Donald Trump waltzes up to me and says "that's a great door, a really great door we have, the best, let me in", I do it, because ultimately I report to him at the moment and I can obviously tell that.

If Mr. Elon Musk walks up and says "I would like to read all the taxes, let me in, I promise not to steal the Declaration of Independence, ha ha", why would I open the door? I know the President likes him, but presidents like a lot of people. Does he currently (as of February 3rd, 2025) hold any position in the governmental chain of command that would be likely to be above mine? Have federal employees in general been instructed by someone who does hold such a position (such as, perhaps, the President) to listen to him in some official capacity?

I suspect he's been granted some kind of position or authorization, since I don't think he's just wandered into DC and started doing governmental things while hoping nobody would notice. But what is it specifically?

interfect
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1 Answers1

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Have federal employees in general been instructed by someone who does hold such a position (such as, perhaps, the President) to listen to him in some official capacity?

Yes. For example, the President's first-day Executive Order converting the US Digital Service to DOGE ("US DOGE Service") states in part:

Agency Heads shall take all necessary steps, in coordination with the USDS Administrator and to the maximum extent consistent with law, to ensure USDS has full and prompt access to all unclassified agency records, software systems, and IT systems.

Musk is the head of USDS as an unpaid "special government employee." Edit: Though President Trump has repeatedly referred to Musk as the head of USDS, and that has been repeatedly reported by news organization with strong fact-checking organizations, a more recent filing by a government attorney denies that without clarifying who does run DOGE.

One might argue that the immediate next sentence ("USDS shall adhere to rigorous data protection standards") is not being followed as well as it should be, but as of this writing nobody seems to have yet proven that in court.

WBT
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