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While Elon Musk claims to be departing from DOGE, the people he tapped to execute his vision for the federal government largely remain in place. Much of DOGE’s remaining staff and leadership, such as figures like Antonio Gracias, maintain extensive ties to Musk’s corporate empire, with many of them having come to DOGE directly from one of Musk’s companies. Research by the Revolving Door Project has found that at least 46 former or current DOGE members have substantial and direct ties to Elon Musk.
DOGE isn’t going anywhere, according to the Trump administration’s own officials. Russell Vought seems to be the new boss in town, but he and Musk’s visions have been aligned from the start. Musk endorsed Vought’s view of the unconstitutionality of the Impoundment Control Act and said that DOGE would work “closely with the White House Office of Management and Budget” in a Wall Street Journal op-ed all the way back in November.
In response to Musk’s departure from DOGE, Revolving Door Project Executive Director Jeff Hauser released the following statement: “There is no daylight between Elon Musk and Russ Vought on the aim of greenlighting corporate abuse, as anyone can see from their joint destruction of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. DOGE’s Musk-tied staffers have already burrowed into the government, and having a new boss who has coordinated extensively with Musk isn’t likely to change their actual actions much at all. Musk’s departure obscures but does not actually change the continuity of DOGE’s staff and mission to destroy everything that protects the public from the depredations of the most rapacious oligarchs.”
The Revolving Door Project has a range of trackers meant to elucidate the tangible harms of DOGE and the rest of this administration. Built for the media and the public, the trackers can aid coverage by providing additional context for breaking news. See them here.
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