From day one of the second Trump administration, Elon Musk has relished taking a blowtorch to the basic functions of our government. The world’s richest man has been central to Trump’s agenda: smashing, looting, and privatizing everything that makes our country run.

It didn’t take long for Musk to face backlash from wide swaths of the American public, including Republicans. And many are breathing a sigh of relief that he seems to be receding from the political spotlight.

Legally, Musk’s tenure as a “special government employee” is limited to 130 working days, so it may end as early as late May. But don’t buy for a second that his influence will be gone for good. Not when he’s spent $290 million to get Trump to the White House. There’s little doubt he’ll keep tabs on his investment. 

And it’s not just Musk. The Trump agenda has been shaped by the anti-democracy ideas of a small group of tech elites. That includes not only Musk but also billionaire PayPal founder Peter Thiel and former venture capitalist, now Vice President J.D. Vance. 

Their ideology has taken root in the Trump administration and its allies in Congress. Already, it’s manifested in a slew of good-for-billionaires, bad-for-people policies and many threats to our very democracy. 

Musk may be stepping back, but his influence isn’t going anywhere.

Elon’s Got Friends in High Places

Despite leaving Washington, Elon won’t be severing his Washington connections. Several Musk associates are now in high-ranking positions in the Trump government.

A former Tesla engineer is now head of Technology Transformation Services, which manages the federal government’s digital services. Top positions at the Office of Personnel Management (the government’s human resources department) are now held by people linked to Musk’s companies, including xAI and Neuralink. 

In April, J.D. Vance said that Musk will continue as a “friend and an adviser” to Trump even after his departure. It’s no surprise that the administration would keep him around, considering he bankrolled Trump’s second stint in the White House. With these links, Musk has ensured he has a channel to the administration.

Musk Opens the Floodgates for Government Privatization — and Profits for Himself

Elon Musk will also stay embedded in the Trump administration through government contracts. Musk, already a major beneficiary of public funds, can expect to profit even more under Trump. These contracts turn taxpayer dollars into padding for his bottom line. 

Already, Musk’s SpaceX and Tesla have held at least $15.4 billion in federal contracts. Less than a month into the Trump administration, NASA bumped a huge contract with SpaceX by $7.5 million, bringing that deal to $38 million.

The Trump administration is set to lavish Elon with even more federal funds. Musk’s Boring Company is currently in talks to take on a multi-billion-dollar Amtrak project. And the administration has cleared the way for Musk’s Starlink to win yet more lucrative contracts by changing rules for a $42 billion program that provides broadband internet to rural communities.

Most recently, Trump announced a new budget plan that includes a big bump for defense spending, including for “space dominance.” Now, Musk’s SpaceX is a frontrunner to win contracts for one major defense project. 

With these contracts, Musk will retain a great deal of power over federal government goings-on, while continuing to build his wealth. 

Worse, this is part of a wider plan to privatize government functions, with contractors profiting off what should be public services. From selling off public lands to pushing the privatization of public water systems, this is an important pillar of the Trump agenda.

A Lingering Musk Over Washington: Elon’s DOGE Persists

Musk stepped into Washington as head of the so-called “Department of Government Efficiency” and immediately began slashing staff, programs, and funding. 

Since inauguration day, 260,000 government workers have accepted buyout deals, retired early, or have been fired. That includes staff working on everything from bird flu, to healthcare for veterans and Native Americans, to putting out forest fires. And now, DOGE is reportedly working on software to automate layoffs.

At the same time, DOGE has frozen spending or cut it entirely for programs that serve us every day, including those that help farmers provide locally grown food to food banks and schools, and that help communities recover after hurricanes and storms.  

While Musk is stepping away, DOGE will continue his work. He recently told reporters that “DOGE is a way of life, like Buddhism,” suggesting it would live on far past his leadership. And, while DOGE was initially set up to end in mid-2026, Musk said its lifespan may extend to the end of Trump’s term. 

“The work of DOGE is not even close to done,” J.D. Vance affirmed in April. “The work of Elon is not even close to done.”

It’s Not Just Musk — Big Tech Elites Are Embedded in Trump 2.0

There is some truth to Musk’s comments on DOGE: plans to dismantle the government live far beyond his leadership. It’s part of what writer Gil Duran calls “the Silicon Valley Playbook,” designed by an anti-democracy tech blogger named Curtis Yarvin.

Yarvin has influenced J.D. Vance and Peter Thiel, Vance’s mentor and founder of Palantir, a major recipient of federal defense contracts. Yarvin has called for the installment of a “CEO dictator” and a purge of government employees he named RAGE: “Retire All Government Employees.” 

Sound familiar? That’s DOGE.

Yarvin’s ideas dovetail with right-wing visions now fashionable among a group of Big Tech elites. They imagine that the geniuses of the world (a.k.a., them) could solve all our problems, if only the government stepped aside.

Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, and Musk himself subscribe to such visions — and also donated to Trump. Now, they’re becoming increasingly intertwined with the administration. 

Just weeks ago, Trump and Musk visited Saudi Arabia with leaders from Palantir, OpenAI, and other Big Tech companies. That visit resulted in a reported $300 billion-worth of business deals, including Saudi Arabia’s approval for Musk’s Starlink to start operations there.

From artificial intelligence-friendly policies to moves toward mass rollbacks of essential protections, Trump 2.0 is increasingly tailored to the interests of these “Broligarchs.” 

What’s more, if Congressional Republicans succeed in growing Trump’s tax cuts, they’ll give Big Tech billionaires yet another leg up. They’re working to pass a budget bill including $4.5 trillion in tax giveaways, largely for the ultra-wealthy and corporations, while slashing trillions from essential programs for workers and families. 

This “Reverse Robin Hood” would accumulate more wealth and power for the Broligarchs, while gutting public services — further opening the door for private corporations to swoop in.

With People Power, We Can Counter the Musk-Trump Agenda

Since their time together on the campaign trail, Elon Musk has embedded himself in Trump 2.0. And while he recently said he’ll roll back his political involvement and spending, he still pledged to spend in the future if he “see[s] a reason to.” In any case, Musk’s first major foray into politics is already paying off.

But even if he never spends another dollar, Elon Musk is a big symptom of a much bigger problem. The wealth of a few billionaires and corporations has allowed them outsized influence on our government. Now, their ideas — slashing protections, dismantling public services, amassing more profit and power for themselves — have become the guiding force of the current administration. 

This all endangers our food, water, health, climate, and democracy. Without action, we will slide further toward a world where a small cadre of rich and powerful people make a livable future impossible for everyone else. 

However, despite this dire state of affairs, we have the antidote. The only way to combat corporate power is with people power. 

By coming together and loudly, strategically opposing the Trump takeover, we can push our leaders to join us and reverse course. We can stop Congress’s “Reverse Robin Hood.” We can preserve protections and counter corporate greed.

Already, we’ve successfully defended protections against toxic lead from Congressional repeal. We’ve also stopped efforts to cut funding for school lunches and financing tools for affordable water. We face many more challenges ahead. But we know we have the power to counter Trump, Musk, and their billionaire allies and build a livable future for all.