Democrats are scrambling from the sidelines to slow down the Elon Musk freight train, which is crashing through Washington bureaucracy and exposing its wild spending.
A who’s who of Democratic headliners, including Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer, democratic socialist icon Sen. Bernard Sanders and left-wing “Squad” leader Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, are laboring to turn public opinion against Mr. Musk and his cost-cutting troops at the Department of Government Efficiency.
They say Mr. Musk is a heartless “oligarch” who is out to line his own pockets and is willing to demonize federal workers and threaten lives around the world to do so.
Meanwhile, Mr. Musk and the DOGE train are hurtling down the government downsizing tracks.
“Billions of taxpayer dollars to known FRAUDULENT entities are STILL being APPROVED by Treasury,” Mr. Musk said Thursday on X. “This needs to STOP NOW!”
For Mr. Musk’s supporters, he is an eccentric genius.
He has taken the public relations battle to Democrats and other critics on social media, highlighting reports and analyses that support his claim that the federal government has failed to be a good steward of taxpayer dollars and blown the money on wild left-wing priorities that clash with national interests.
“It is funny how the same people claiming nobody elected DOGE had no problem turning over the power to regulate nearly every aspect of life and spend trillions of tax dollars to an army of unelected bureaucrats,” said Sen. Joni Ernst, Iowa Republican and chair of the Senate DOGE Caucus. “The fact that the entrenched bureaucracy is fighting back this hard against commonsense reforms tells you everything you need to know.”
Mr. Musk has called for a “wholesale” elimination of federal regulations and shutting down the U.S. Agency for International Development, which he described as a criminal organization.
His DOGE team burrowed into the Treasury Department, the Office of Management and Budget and the Office of Personnel Management.
At USAID alone, DOGE identified nearly $200 million in questionable spending, including $2.1 million for the BBC, $20 million to produce an Iraqi version of “Sesame Street” and $75 million for diversity, equity and inclusion programs in foreign countries.
Democratic frustration with Mr. Musk and DOGE started simmering after the Trump administration announced a freeze on federal grants and buyouts for federal employees. The employees were told to decide by midnight Thursday whether to accept the offer or forge ahead under an administration focused on more sizable cuts to the government payroll.
On Thursday, a federal judge paused the buyout offer and pushed the deadline to at least Monday.
Tempers boiled over this week when USAID workers were locked out of their Washington headquarters and the DOGE team gained access to the U.S. Treasury payment system, which disperses funds to federal agencies.
“The ongoing actions by Musk and his followers are a coup because the individuals seizing power have no right to it,” liberal filmmaker Michael Moore said in an email blast. “Elon Musk was elected to no office, and there is no office that would give him the authority to do what he is doing.
“It is all illegal. It is also a coup in its intended effects: to undo democratic practice and violate human rights,” Mr. Moore said.
Democrats were also fuming after House and Senate members were denied entry to the Treasury Department headquarters on Tuesday. The previous day, congressional Democrats were blocked from entering the USAID offices in Washington.
“We are witnessing in real time the most corrupt bargain in American history,” Sen. Chris Van Hollen of Maryland said at a rally on the streets of Washington. “Elon Musk contributed over $250 million to help elect Donald Trump, and now Donald Trump is turning over the keys to the Treasury and the rest of the federal government to Elon Musk.
“We need to end this illegal power grab, and we are going to do it now,” he said.
John Dedie, a political science professor at Community College of Baltimore County, said Democrats likely hope that attacking Mr. Musk will give them a foothold in the new Trump era.
“I think the reason a lot of Democrats are under their desk is they’re war-weary from the first four years of Trump, and I think that Musk could be a rallying cry to fire them up,” Mr. Dedie said.
Mr. Musk is emerging as a polarizing figure.
On Wednesday, an Economist/YouGov survey showed that 13% of Americans said they want Mr. Musk to have “a lot” of influence in the Trump administration, 25% said they want him to have “a little” influence and 46% said they want “none at all.”
He also has lost some of his luster with Republicans since the November election.
Over that time, the share of Republicans who said they want Mr. Musk to have “a lot” of influence over President Trump has fallen from 47% to 26%.
A Quinnipiac University survey released last week found that 53% to 39% of voters disapprove of Mr. Musk’s prominent role in the Trump administration.
The frustration with Mr. Musk erupted in protests featuring “ELON CON” signs and chants of “Hey, Ho, Elon Musk has got to go.”
The world’s richest man sounds unfazed.
“This is our shot,” Mr. Musk said in a live X session this week. “This is the best hand of cards we’re ever going to have. If we don’t take advantage of this best hand of cards, it’s never going to happen.”
• Seth McLaughlin can be reached at smclaughlin@washingtontimes.com.