‪Josh Marshall‬ ‪
@joshtpm.bsky.social‬
9h
Several conversations today w people in the key executive departments. And while the particulars are hard to pin down my impression is that the Musk take over stuff is considerably worse than is being presented in the press. By this I don’t necessarily things they *done* yet but the level of …

‪Josh Marshall‬ ‪
@joshtpm.bsky.social‬
9h
2/ they already have over key computer systems, payment systems, etc. and with the press picture it’s not that things aren’t getting out. The stuff abt the Treasury payments systems and control over certain computer networks has been reported. It’s more putting together the big picture abt how …

‪Josh Marshall‬ ‪
@joshtpm.bsky.social‬
9h
3/ different pieces fit together. There also seems to be a significant amount of downloading government data onto private servers, etc, totally outside any cybersecurity regime. Additionally it’s unclear to the people inside whether the people doing these things actually work for the US govt…

‪Josh Marshall‬ ‪
@joshtpm.bsky.social‬
9h
4/ who they are, whether they’re even American citizens. They all seem to be Thiel and Musk protégés. And I’ve had multiple references to their refusing to identify themselves by anything but first name. The rationale given is that they could be doxed.

‪Josh Marshall‬ ‪
@joshtpm.bsky.social‬
9h
5/ One additional point and to be clear this latter stuff isn’t from my reporting just pieced together other reports and what musk is saying himself. They’re into th ex treasury payment system and claiming they’ve already found like $4B in “savings” a day.

‪Josh Marshall‬ ‪
@joshtpm.bsky.social‬
9h
6/ It’s important to know what this means. This is simple his DOGE team reviewing the US federal budget, law of the land and deciding which parts aren’t necessary. It sounds like they’re saying they will unilaterally cut these funds with control over the check writing at Treasury.

‪Josh Marshall‬ ‪
@joshtpm.bsky.social‬
9h
7/ They’re not saying that last part explicitly but that’s certainly the logic of what they’re saying. (Go look at his tweets over thd last two days). So a group of Musk protégés seem to be overruling the US federal budget. Impoundment by the president is illegal. It’s hard to think through …

Josh Marshall
‪@joshtpm.bsky.social‬
8/ the levels of illegality having a group of people who don’t even seem to be US government employees doing it.
February 2, 2025 at 12:19 AM