Elon Musk's Demolition Crew  —  On President Donald Trump's authority alone, Elon Musk, the world's richest man, has been unleashed on federal agencies.  Employees from Musk's companies and those of his allies, as well as young staffers he's recruited, are wresting authority from career workers and commandeering computer systems.

DOGE follows longtime Musk pattern — and turns attention to Social Security Administration  —  Elon Musk's DOGE shuttered USAID.  It has searched Medicare payments and gained access to a sensitive Treasury Department payment system.  Its initial Labor Department presence prompted a lawsuit.

The US Treasury Claimed DOGE Technologist Didn't Have ‘Write Access’ When He Actually Did  —  Sources tell WIRED that the ability of DOGE's Marko Elez to alter code controlling trillions in federal spending was rescinded days after US Treasury and White House officials said it didn't exist.

Musk associates sought to use critical Treasury payment system to shut down USAID spending, emails show  —  Four days after Donald Trump's inauguration, Elon Musk's top lieutenants at the Treasury Department asked its acting secretary, a career civil servant, to immediately shut off …

Note to Our Readers  —  POLITICO has been the subject of debate on X this week.  Some of it has been misinformed, and some of it has been flat-out false.  Let's set the record straight.  —  POLITICO has been the subject of debate on X this week.  Some of it has been misinformed, and some of it has been flat-out false.

Deadline for Trump's federal worker buyout proposal temporarily blocked by judge  —  Washington — A federal judge on Thursday temporarily blocked the Office of Personnel Management's deadline for federal employees to accept the Trump administration's “deferred resignation” offer.