The Musk-Trump Campaign for a Closer Look at the Future of the Internal Revenue: The Case against a Government Shutdown
Musk has talked about removing so-called non essential workers who perform critical tasks, like inspecting food and processing applications for benefits. “If the job is not essential, or they are not doing it well, they obviously shouldn’t be on the public payroll,” Musk told reporters in late February, according to The New Yorker.
A woman named Leah Feiger. The government could shut down as soon as Friday. Republicans in congress are attempting to force through a continuing resolution that would keep the government running. It would extend it until September, which wouldn’t be forever. Buying Congress and Republicans a bit more time. Trump has been giving some very full-throated encouragement to his party, I should say, to vote for this CR and to avoid a shutdown. Our reporting ran in a different way than that. That Trump’s arguably chief lieutenant right now and collaborator Elon Musk has actually been expressing a pretty serious desire for a government shutdown, even as Trump has been saying that he does not want one. Not only does Musk want a government shutdown, an aim that obviously, as I just said, runs totally contrary to Trump, but it’s partially because it would make it a lot easier to eliminate the jobs of hundreds of thousands of federal workers. A permanent shutdown would be achieved.
“You know none of this is about saving money, right?” says a third Republican familiar with the behind-the-scenes push from Musk. It was all about destruction of a liberal power base.
The WIRED Project: Uncanny Valley After DOGE Shutdown and Musk’s Plan for the Reopening of the Department of Government Efficiency
The possible shutdown looms as Musk’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has slashed its way through the government, eliminating the positions of an estimated tens of thousands of workers. If a government shutdown occurs, many federal agencies and programs would be essentially put on ice. Agencies like the FBI and others with law enforcement and security functions would largely continue to operate as normal—albeit with some government workers not being paid until after the end of the shutdown—and critical functions like the issuance of Social Security checks would not be directly affected. The majority of the department would be impacted by a shutdown plan.
Even if Musk wanted to eliminate $1 trillion worth of federal spending, he would probably need to lay off about one-fifth of the workforce, or around $110 billion a year.
You are welcome to WIRED’s unstoppable valley. I’m WIRED’s Global Editorial Director Katie Drummond. On the show, we’ll hear why Musk wants the government to shut down. Today I’m joined by WIRED’s Senior Editor. Welcome back to Uncanny Valley, Leah.
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