The European Commission (EC) is planning to "energetically" advance its probe into content moderation on X (formerly Twitter), potentially ordering changes at Elon Musk's social network in the coming months, Bloomberg reported.

Since 2023, the EC has been investigating X for possible violations of the Digital Services Act (DSA). Notably, it's the group's first formal probe under the DSA, which requires very large online platforms to meet strict content moderation and transparency standards to ensure user safety, reduce misinformation, prevent illegal/harmful activity, and facilitate "a fair and open online platform environment."

In a letter to European lawmakers viewed by Bloomberg, EC tech commissioner Henna Virkkunen and justice chief Michael McGrath apparently confirmed that the investigation into X will end “as early as legally possible."

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The EU court said the bloc's executive authority violated a citizen's rights by transferring some of his personal data to the U.S. without proper safeguards.

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• The Department of Government Efficiency is hiring "a very small number" of full-time paid employees.
• DOGE said it is recruiting for engineering, HR, IT, and finance roles.
• Job application and compensation details remain sparse.

Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy's Department of Government Efficiency is recruiting for "a very small number" of full-time, salaried positions, according to its X account.

As of early January, the commission is looking for people to fill software engineering, information security engineering, HR, IT, and finance roles.

DOGE is an advisory committee that aims to significantly cut the federal budget — Musk said he wants to slash $2 trillion in spending — and pare back regulations. It exists outside of the federal government and does not have the power to change laws or agencies, though its leaders have already exerted influence over legislative actions, like a recent spending bill.

Applicants for the HR, IT, and finance roles were instructed in an X post — which functions as a job listing — to DM the commission's account their résumé and a few bullet points about their interest. Those applying for software engineering and information security engineering jobs were told in a separate post to send bullet points "demonstrating exceptional ability" and a phone number over direct message.

In November, Musk said in an X post that employees at DOGE would not be compensated; it remains unclear how many salaried positions are available. That same month, DOGE's X account said in a post that "thousands of Americans" have expressed interest in working at the commission and that applicants must be willing to work more than 80 hours a week. Musk and Ramaswamy would consider the top 1% of applicants, the post said.

In a recent blog post, Vinay Hiremath, a former tech executive, said he applied to work at DOGE and had eight calls before being accepted and added to Signal groups.

"I was immediately acquainted with the software, HR, and legal teams and went from 0 to 100 taking meetings and getting shit done," he wrote in the post, noting that he worked at DOGE for four weeks.

Though DOGE is actively recruiting, details about specific employees remain sparse. In early December, President-elect Donald Trump announced that William Joseph McGinley would serve as the commission's counsel. He also announced on Truth Social that Katie Miller, who was the deputy press secretary for the Department of Homeland Security during Trump's first term and is married to Trump's incoming deputy chief of policy Stephen Miller, would join the commission.

Representatives for Musk, Ramaswamy, and Trump did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider, and DOGE's X account did not immediately respond to a direct message.

Have you applied or considered applying to work at DOGE? Share your experience and thoughts with this reporter at [email protected].

• Elon Musk is funding a new private preschool in Texas called Ad Astra.
• It's set to open its doors this year for children aged three to nine.
• The school is focused on STEM-based learning and has long-term goals to expand into a university.

Elon Musk is expanding his reach as he launches his newest venture: early childhood education.

Located in Bastrop, Texas, Ad Astra is a private preschool that is accepting applications for children aged three to nine. The school's website said that Ad Astra will subsidize tuition for its opening year, after which costs will be set in line with local private schools.

"Ad Astra's approach to education is centered around hands-on, project-based learning, where children are encouraged to explore, experiment, and discover solutions to real-world problems," the website said, adding that its curriculum will be centered on integrating STEM subjects into the classrooms.

A notice from the Texas Health and Human Services Department said the preschool obtained its initial permit on November 14, officially allowing the school to open in 2025. Per the permit, the preschool can admit up to 21 students in its first year of operation. The school's application materials first obtained by Bloomberg said that the school's long-term goal is expanding into a university focused on STEM learning.

While Musk's name does not appear in any of the school's application materials to the state, his foundation donated $100 million to get the preschool up and running, according to tax filings.

As the CEO of Tesla, SpaceX, and the owner of the social media website Twitter turned X, Musk is not primarily known for his influence on education. However, this isn't his first investment into the field — in 2014, Musk opened a school also named Ad Astra that he created for his kids and the kids of his SpaceX employees, which stopped its in-person operations after Musk's kids graduated.

It's not uncommon for billionaires to donate to schools and universities. Ad Astra's opening, however, comes at a time when President-elect Donald Trump is taking office for his second term. Musk is a close ally of Trump, tasked with leading a new cost-cutting commission called the Department of Government Efficiency. Amid calls to eliminate the Education Department and give states more control over classrooms, Musk could play a key role in shaping education policy by offering advice to Trump and lawmakers. DOGE does not have the power to make any changes on its own.

"I do think we need significant reform in education," Musk said during a Trump campaign event in October.

"The Department of Education seems to regard as its primary duty foisting propaganda on our children as opposed to getting them a good education. It's insane," Musk said. "The priority should be to teach kids skills that they will find useful later in life and leave any sort of social propaganda out of the classroom."

Ad Astra and Musk did not immediately respond to requests for comment from Business Insider.

New priorities for education

Ad Astra's website said it is not a Montessori school, but it operates like one, focusing on child-centered education and individualized lessons. The application form to the school also encourages parental involvement, saying that Ad Astra wants "parents and guardians to be actively involved and share their gifts with the community."

The school's website does not directly reference politics, but Musk, Trump, and other Republican lawmakers' past comments indicate how the GOP would like to shape education under Trump's administration. When Trump announced former wrestling executive Linda McMahon as his education secretary, he wrote in a statement that she would "fight tirelessly to expand 'Choice' to every State in America, and empower parents to make the best Education decisions for their families."

Reducing the federal Education Department's influence over education has long been a priority for Republican lawmakers. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed into law a series of bills aimed at increasing parents' involvement in classroom curricula and ending "woke" lessons in classrooms.

Trump and Musk's DOGE partner Vivek Ramaswamy have also proposed shutting down the Education Department altogether. Ramaswamy recently blamed the department for kids' poor reading literacy scores.

The emphasis on STEM education at Ad Astra reflects Musk's priorities for hands-on learning that would equip children with the skills he has said they'll need to enter the workforce. McMahon has previously expressed support for workforce education programs, suggesting a focus on teaching kids practical skills could be a priority over the next four years.

Are you a parent interested in enrolling your child at Ad Astra? What priorities do you have for education in the US? Share your thoughts with this reporter at [email protected].

• Republicans nearly unanimously reelected Mike Johnson as speaker of the House.
• It avoids what could've been an early embarrassment for Trump and the GOP.
• After winning, Johnson pledged to "drastically cut back the size and scope of government."

In a stunning turn of events on Friday, Rep. Mike Johnson of Louisiana was reelected as speaker of the House on the first ballot, avoiding what could have been an early embarrassment for Republicans ahead of President-elect Donald Trump's inauguration.

It didn't come without some trouble.

Three House Republicans — Reps. Thomas Massie of Kentucky, Ralph Norman of South Carolina, and Keith Self of Texas — initially voted for candidates other than Johnson to serve as speaker, denying him the 218-vote majority necessary to win. Several other Republicans withheld their votes until the end of the roll call, though they ultimately voted for Johnson.

Republicans held the vote open as Johnson met with Norman and Self, and after 45 minutes, both men switched their votes — allowing him to clinch the speakership on the first ballot.

"Is the preference to have it sail through? Yes," Norman told BI in a brief interview before voting began on Friday. "We'll see how it goes."

It wasn't immediately clear as of publication how Johnson had regained the two lawmakers' support. Massie, an idiosyncratic libertarian, was the sole Republican who did not switch his vote to Johnson.

Before the vote, Johnson wrote a lengthy post on X in which he pledged to create a "working group comprised of independent experts" to work with Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy's "Department of Government Efficiency," or DOGE, to implement spending cuts. He also requested committees undertake "aggressive" reviews of government spending.

Republicans avoided an early embarrassment

Johnson's problem wasn't Trump — the president-elect endorsed him earlier this week. The speaker-to-be also had the support of Musk, who caused trouble for Johnson last month by helping to tank a government funding bill.

Instead, it was a group of hardline Republicans, many of whom are part of the House Freedom Caucus. Ahead of the vote, several of them had signaled their dissatisfaction with Johnson, particularly his frequent reliance on Democrats to pass major government funding bills and his decision in April of last year to allow more than $60 billion in Ukraine aid to pass the House.

With all but a handful of Republicans pledging to support the incoming speaker, it appeared that long-festering wounds within the conference — some of which were ripped open when Kevin McCarthy was deposed as speaker last year — might be reopened.

"I have a feeling some folks wake up in the morning to see what confusion and chaos they can cause every day," Republican Rep. Greg Murphy of North Carolina told BI.

Trump and his allies argued that GOP unity was crucial for enacting the party's agenda, which includes passing major bills to address border security, immigration, and energy policy, raising the debt ceiling, extending the Trump tax cuts, funding the government, and eventually pursuing sweeping cuts to federal spending at the recommendation of DOGE.

"We're going to protect our industries from one-sided trade deals, and we're going to bring overseas investments back to American shores," Johnson said in a speech after claiming the gavel. "We'll defeat the harmful effects of inflation, and we'll make life affordable again for America's hard-working people."

Johnson also made a nod toward DOGE, saying that Congress would "drastically cut back the size and scope of government."

"In coordination with President Trump and his administration, we are going to create a leaner, faster, and more efficient federal workforce," Johnson said. "We need to do that."

'It's their responsibility to govern'

Despite avoiding a complete mess on Friday, Republicans will face plenty of challenges enacting the legislative pieces of Trump's 100-day agenda.

For one, Republicans will have a one-vote majority until at least April, when special elections will be held to fill vacancies caused by Trump's appointments and former Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida's decision to leave the House.

The GOP is expected to try to ram through at least one party-line bill, using the special procedural power known as budget reconciliation, which allows them to pass bills through the Senate without the usual 60-vote requirement.

Republicans aren't entirely in agreement on how they'll use it. Senate Majority Leader John Thune wants to move two separate bills, one devoted to border security and defense spending and another later in the year that would extend Trump's tax cuts. Meanwhile, some House Republicans, particularly Ways and Means Committee Chairman Rep. Jason Smith, want the party to move only one massive bill.

To further complicate matters, reconciliation bills should only deal with fiscal matters, and it remains to be seen what immigration-related policies would be allowed.

Beyond their ambitious policy goals, Republicans will also have to raise or suspend the debt ceiling or risk default likely sometime later this summer. Many conservatives have ideological reservations about raising the debt ceiling and have historically voted against doing so. Last month, Trump unsuccessfully sought to pressure Republicans to raise the debt ceiling before he took office.

There's also the question of how Republicans will carry out more basic tasks, including funding the government. Over the last two years, Johnson has frequently relied on Democratic votes to pass major funding bills.

"They're in the majority, and it's their responsibility to govern," Democratic Rep. Jim McGovern of Massachusetts told BI. "It's not my responsibility to bail them out every time they have a problem."

Despite all of these challenges, Norman — one of the original Johnson holdouts — told BI he wasn't worried about his party's agenda, pointing to the fact that his party would soon control both chambers of Congress and the presidency.

"We've got so many things to be thankful for, and to be happy about, and I am," Norman said.

• Bernie Sanders waded into an ongoing debate between Elon Musk and some on the right over H-1B visas.
• Musk and the tech right generally support the visas, but some in the MAGA base oppose them.
• Sanders argued that the system allows corporations to exploit workers and enrich themselves.

Sen. Bernie Sanders is wading into the heated debate between Elon Musk, Vivek Ramaswamy, and the MAGA base over high-skilled immigration.

In a statement released on Thursday, the Vermont independent and two-time Democratic presidential candidate said Musk is wrong about the H-1B visa, which is designed to bring high-skilled workers from abroad to work in the United States.

Musk, Ramaswamy, and others on the "tech right" have argued that the system is necessary to compensate for a shortage of high-skilled workers in America, pitting them against more nationalist Republican voices who see the system as bringing unfair competition upon American workers.

Sanders argued on Thursday that the system is used to exploit foreign workers while enriching corporations.

"The main function of the H-1B visa program and other guest worker initiatives is not to hire 'the best and the brightest,' but rather to replace good-paying American jobs with low-wage indentured servants from abroad," Sanders said, pointing to the fact that corporations have laid off American workers even as they've hired foreign workers through the H-1B system. "The cheaper the labor they hire, the more money the billionaires make."

The Vermont senator called for a series of reforms to the system, including increasing guest worker fees for large corporations, raising the minimum wage for guest workers, and allowing them to easily switch jobs.

"The widespread corporate abuse of the H-1B program must be ended," Sanders said. "It should never be cheaper for a corporation to hire a guest worker from overseas than an American worker."

Trump has sided with Musk, saying that he supports the H-1B visa system. That's despite him signing an executive order halting the program in 2020.

Musk did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Sanders has previously signaled a willingness to work with the billionaire businessman on cutting defense spending via the "Department of Government Efficiency" initiative, though he told BI that it remains to be seen how serious Musk is about the issue.

"It's time for THE charger," the European Commission posted to X on December 28, 2024. While the sentiment only applies to one continent (and not all of it) and only certain devices, the Common Charger Directive now in effect in the European Union suggests that far fewer gadgets will foist barrels, USB-micro, or proprietary plugs onto their owners.

The Common Charger Directive demands that a "USB-C receptacle" be equipped on "radio equipment" that is "equipped with a removable or embedded rechargeable battery" and "can be recharged via wired charging." If it has a battery and can be powered by up to 240 watts through a USB-C connection, it's generally subject to the EU's USB-C requirements. The directive applies to devices "placed on the market"—sent to a distributor or buyer—after December 28, even if they were initially designed and sold before that date.

Laptops get until April 2026 to comply, but most other things—phones, tablets, handheld gaming devices, computer accessories, and wireless headphones—will have to be powered by USB-C to be sold inside the EU from now on. Drones, for the time being, are largely unaddressed by the directive, but the EU will likely get around to them.

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• DOGE's Vivek Ramaswamy said eighth graders' reading scores in 2022 were "downright brutal."
• He said eliminating the Education Department would help improve literacy in the US.
• Education experts told BI that eliminating the department likely wouldn't help boost reading scores.

One of the business leaders tapped by President-elect Donald Trump to suggest cuts for government spending said axing the Education Department would help boost kids' reading scores in the US. Education policy experts say it's not that simple.

Vivek Ramaswamy, who is tasked with leading a new commission called the Department of Government Efficiency alongside Elon Musk, called reading proficiency scores for eighth graders "downright brutal" in a Sunday post on X.

"This is a 5-alarm fire & President Trump's vision to dismantle the Department of Education is the first step to fixing it," Ramaswamy wrote in response to a separate post highlighting the low reading scores.

The National Assessment of Education Progress found that 31% of eighth graders were proficient in reading in 2022 — 3 percentage points lower than the 2019 score.

It's unclear how eliminating the federal Education Department — which would require congressional action — would help boost literacy scores. Education policy experts across the political spectrum said that the department oversees federal grants and data collection that monitor students' progress.

Weadé James, the senior director for K-12 education policy at the left-leaning think tank Center for American Progress, told Business Insider that there's "no proof" eliminating the department would boost literacy.

"What we know is proven is that the department provides an opportunity for every child to have access and opportunity to receive a high-quality education," James said. "What is unproven is that closing the Department of Education is going to actually fix the literacy challenges that we're experiencing."

The department was founded in 1979, eight years after the National Assessment of Educational Progress began collecting long-term reading-assessment data — and the data found that reading scores were slightly higher after the department was established.

When previously asked how Trump's pick for education secretary, Linda McMahon, would address literacy, Liz Huston, a Trump-Vance transition spokesperson, said that given McMahon's "extensive background in the business world, government, and serving on Connecticut's School Board, she is ready to deliver on President Trump's agenda to restore America's education system and prepare our next generation for the future."

The Education Department's role in literacy

While reading scores over the past decades have fluctuated, there's never been a year in which students excelled in literacy, with the share of eighth graders meeting the department's reading proficiency standards ranging from a low of 29% in 1992 to a high of 36% in 2013 and 2017. The pandemic set back many children's reading progress, education experts previously told BI, along with a lack of consistent state and federal investment in reading instruction.

Nat Malkus, a senior fellow and deputy director of education policy at the conservative think tank American Enterprise Institute, told BI that Ramaswamy is right to be concerned about kids' reading scores, but the idea that eliminating the Education Department will address those scores "doesn't hold a lot of water."

"If it weren't for the Department of Education, we wouldn't know the statistics that he's citing about how many students are proficient at reading," Malkus said.

"I think the administration is interested in changing the way funds flow with fewer strings," Malkus added, "but whether that will actually get through what is still a very closely divided Congress seems dubious."

Ramaswamy, Musk, and Trump, along with some Republican lawmakers, have supported dismantling the Education Department in favor of giving states more power over kids' education. Malkus said, though, that states are already largely in control of education — states, rather than the federal government, set classroom curricula and most school policies.

The Education Department's main role is to facilitate federal funding and research. James said more investment in the Institute of Education Sciences — a nonpartisan research arm within the department — could "help us to identify, what is the effective literacy instruction that students need."

She also said the Education Department has the power to establish and expand grants that could foster partnerships with local school districts and researchers to equip teachers on the best literacy practices.

The Education Department oversees several grant programs, including $18.4 billion in funding for the Title I program, which provides federal assistance to school districts to help low-income students.

• Laura Loomer, an Elon Musk supporter-turned-critic, says Musk has demoted her account on Twitter/X.
• Musk has accused Loomer of "trolling for attention."
• It's a reminder: We've seen Musk run Twitter on a whim. Now that he's got an important role in politics: Will he behave the same way there?

Laura Loomer has been kicked off lots of social media sites, including Twitter. After Elon Musk bought the service in 2022, he reinstated her, along with many others who had been booted by Twitter's previous management.

Now, Loomer claims, Musk's service has demoted her by stripping her account's "premium" blue-check status and other benefits. She says Musk made the move because she was criticizing his stance on immigration.

You may be unaware of Loomer — described by Wikipedia as "an American far-right political activist, conspiracy theorist, and internet personality" — and/or the online rock fight about immigration and racism breaking out among different wings of Trump supporters. If so, that could mean you have a healthy relationship with the internet. Good for you.

If you'd like to know more about the latter, my colleague Hasan Chowdhury has an explainer. You could also, at your own risk, consult Twitter/X's own summary of the story.

My point is, you don't need me to tell you about this.

I simply want to remind you that — if Loomer's allegation is correct — this would be par for the course for Musk and his social media company. (Musk hasn't denied Loomer's charges, and has told his followers to ignore her because she's "trolling for attention." I've asked her and Twitter/X for additional comment.)

As I've noted before, the most consistent thing about Musk's management style at Twitter is his erratic, flip-flopping, inconsistency.

Sometimes it's about relatively small stuff, like wooing Don Lemon to start a talk show on Twitter, and then canceling the deal before the show ever started. Sometimes it's about really big stuff — like agreeing to pay some $44 billion for Twitter, then spending weeks in court trying not to buy it.

In any case, the only way you can be surprised by stuff like this at this point is if you never paid attention.

But I do think it's still worth pointing out. Because while Musk's management style at Twitter hasn't changed, his responsibilities have changed.

He's no longer just the richest person in the world, who runs important companies like Tesla and SpaceX, in addition to Twitter. Musk may now be the most powerful unelected person in America, given his importance to Donald Trump and his upcoming administration.

There's his role at DOGE, for starters. And the fact that he appears to be conducting foreign policy for Trump. And that he used Twitter to temporarily tank a government funding bill this month.

We don't know how long this arrangement is going to last, and what kind of impact Musk is going to have. But we do know that for now, a man with the power to affect the way the American government operates is the same man who can change the way he runs Twitter depending on how he feels at any given moment. We shouldn't ignore that.

• A group of Republicans recently introduced a bill to repeal the Impoundment Control Act.
• It would hand Trump more control over government spending — he could even unilaterally cut it off.
• Several Republicans who backed the bill told BI they're fine with giving up congressional power.

Ahead of President-elect Donald Trump's return to the White House, some Republicans on Capitol Hill are ready to do something unusual: Relinquish some of their own power over federal spending.

More than 20 Republicans cosponsored a bill this month that would repeal the Impoundment Control Act of 1974, or ICA, a Watergate-era law that requires the president to spend all of the money that Congress approves. In the absence of that law and subsequent court rulings, the president would have the power to spend less money than what Congress decides — or refuse to spend money on certain programs altogether.

That would bring a massive power shift from the legislative to the executive branch, upending a balance between the two that's existed for 50 years. Some Republicans on Capitol Hill say it's their best hope of enacting spending cuts and reducing the national debt, given Congress's history of inaction and what they view as their colleagues' unwillingness to reduce spending.

"I think the spending is just out of control, and I think Congress is gutless," Rep. Tim Burchett of Tennessee told Business Insider. "I just don't think we're capable of making changes without some other interference, whether it be the executive branch or the voters."

"If the power is reducing expenditures, then I'm all for it," Rep. Eric Burlison of Missouri told BI. "Something has to be done."

"You look at where we are in this country, why not give him that power?" Rep. Ralph Norman of South Carolina told BI, referring to the country's fiscal situation. "At this point, I'm willing to take that risk. Anything can be abused. I can drink too much water, and suffer from it."

The Trump-Vance transition did not respond to a request for comment.

'We can simply choke off the money'

Trump is no stranger to impoundment — his first impeachment was triggered by his refusal to deliver aid to Ukraine. As he's mounted his third presidential bid, Trump has argued that the ICA is unconstitutional and should be done away with, either via congressional repeal or via the courts.

"With impoundment, we can simply choke off the money," Trump said in a 2023 campaign video. "I alone can get that done."

As Trump has staffed up his administration, he's appointed staunch proponents of impoundment to key positions. That includes Russell Vought and Mark Paoletta, who have been nominated to their previously held roles of director and general counsel of the Office of Management and Budget, respectively.

The president-elect's allies have argued that impoundment is a constitutional power that all presidents hold, owing to the president's duty under Article II of the US Constitution to "take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed."

They also point out that for roughly 200 years before 1974 — when Congress passed the ICA as President Richard Nixon refused to spend money on programs he disagreed with — presidents of all stripes have used impoundment for a variety of reasons, including policy disagreements.

"When Congress passes a spending bill, we pass a ceiling," Rep. Andrew Clyde, the Georgia Republican who introduced the ICA repeal bill, told BI. "It's not a floor and ceiling put together at one number."

More recently, impoundment has been embraced by Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, whose "Department of Government Efficiency" initiative aims to enact trillions of dollars in cuts to federal spending. The duo have publicly agreed with Trump's argument that the ICA is unconstitutional, and the topic arose when they visited Capitol Hill to speak with Republicans earlier this month.

"I look at it as a tool of saving money, and being more efficient," Clyde said. "That's what the American people literally demanded in this election."

'Maybe this is too broad'

There are plenty of opponents of impoundment on Capitol Hill, including among Republicans. Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, the incoming GOP chairwoman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, has told reporters that she's opposed to repealing the ICA. And it's not just Trump skeptics who are uneasy with it.

"If it's something that further weakens Congress' ability to do its job the way they should be, then I'm going to look at that real carefully," Republican Rep. Mark Amodei of Nevada told BI in November.

Key Democrats, meanwhile, have expressed opposition to Trump's impoundment plans. Rep. Brendan Boyle, the top Democrat on the House Budget Committee, released a fact sheet making a case against impoundment.

"The legal theories being pushed by Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy are as idiotic as they are dangerous," Boyle said in a statement. "Unilaterally slashing funds that have been lawfully appropriated by the people's elected representatives in Congress would be a devastating power grab that undermines our economy and puts families and communities at risk."

Republican skepticism, along with Democrats' likely opposition to any effort to give Trump more spending power, could make repealing the law via Congress an uphill battle.

The president-elect said in the 2023 video that he "will do everything I can to challenge the Impoundment Control Act in court," queueing up what would be a high-stakes legal fight early in his second term.

What remains unclear is exactly how expansively Trump would try to use impoundment. For some of the Republicans who support the effort, it's merely about spending less than what's necessary. Others warn that Trump could use that power in a retributive way, denying federal funding to states and localities over policy disagreements.

Even those who've cosponsored the ICA repeal bill expressed some ambivalence about its potential implications.

"Maybe this is too broad. I don't know," Rep. Andy Biggs of Arizona told BI. "But I can tell you this: if you have a president who says 'I don't need 10 billion, I need 2 billion,' then I would like them not to spend that 8 billion. That's really kind of what the objective is, I think."

• Vivek Ramaswamy doubled down on DOGE's calls to eliminate the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
• He wrote on X that the CFPB overstepped its authority with its recent rule to limit overdraft fees.
• The CFPB's rule aims to cap bank overdraft fees, not eliminate them, saving consumers billions.

Vivek Ramaswamy has called out a government agency's latest rule to give Americans banking relief as an example of why the office should be eliminated.

Ramaswamy, who was tapped by Donald Trump to co-lead a new Department of Government Efficiency to make spending-cut recommendations, posted on X on Thursday that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau had exceeded its authority with its recent rule to limit overdraft fees.

"The new administration can & should nullify this overreach, but we must go further: this latest gambit of the CFPB is just a symptom of a deeper (and unconstitutional) cancer of unelected bureaucrats substituting their policy judgments for those of Congress," Ramaswamy said. "That's un-American & needs to end."

While DOGE is an advisory commission and would not have the power to eliminate agencies or cut spending on its own, it is in a position to make recommendations. Elon Musk, the co-head of DOGE, said in November that the Trump administration should "delete CFPB."

The CFPB finalized a rule on December 12 that would require banks to limit overdraft fees — the amount charged to customers when they attempt to spend more than their balance. The agency estimated that the new rule would save Americans up to $5 billion each year, or $225 per household.

"The CFPB has heard from tens of thousands of Americans who are sick and tired of paying billions in junk fees," Allison Preiss, a CFPB spokesperson, told Business Insider in a statement. "This rule is common sense and long overdue, and it's unclear why big banks are scared to be transparent with their customers about the interest rate they're charging on overdraft loans."

The rule updates federal regulations for banks with over $10 billion in assets, including major institutions like Bank of America and Capitol One. Banks can now choose between two options to address overdraft fees: They could implement a $5 cap on fees, or they could set their fee at an amount necessary to cover the bank's costs and losses. Banks earning profits on overdraft fees would also be required to disclose the terms of the fees, as they already do with credit cards and other types of loans.

The CFPB took action against Wells Fargo in 2022 after the bureau said it charged consumers surprise overdraft fees, which resulted in customers receiving $205 million in refunds. Other federal agencies, including the Federal Trade Commission and the Department of Transportation, have also taken steps to ban hidden and excessive fees.

The CFPB is no stranger to criticism. The Supreme Court in May rejected a conservative-led lawsuit that sought to dismantle the CFPB's funding structure. The lawsuit argued that Congress should have to approve annual funding for the agency rather than it receiving funding in perpetuity. Since its creation in 2011 in the wake of the financial crisis, the CFPB has received funds directly from the Federal Reserve, allowing it to carry out its functions independently of the political appropriations process.

Trump, Musk, and Ramaswamy have called for eliminating other federal agencies including the Education Department, the Internal Revenue Service, and the Environmental Protection Agency.

It's unclear if DOGE will succeed in its efforts to eliminate agencies like the CFPB. However, Rohit Chopra, the head of the CFPB, warned Musk and Ramaswamy in an interview earlier this month with MSNBC that axing the agency is "begging for a financial crisis" and would have dire consequences.

"I don't understand why people would want financial crime," Chopra said, "and if they say it's duplicative, who else will do it?"

• Steve Davis, an Elon Musk loyalist, is ready to help out at the Department of Government Efficiency.
• Davis has worked at Musk's companies for over 20 years, having first joined SpaceX in 2003.
• Since then he has become a close advisor to the world's richest man.

Steve Davis has been a vital point person for Elon Musk. His next act is to help the billionaire sort out the government.

Davis, a longtime Musk loyalist, has been enlisted to recruit staff for the Department of Government Efficiency, Bloomberg reported. Donald Trump has tasked Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy with overseeing the new department, whose authority and jurisdiction is still unclear.

Davis's appearance in operational planning at DOGE, a project proposed to cut federal spending by $2 trillion, isn't surprising. Davis and Musk's working relationship stretches back more than two decades.

Davis entered Musk's sphere in 2003, when he joined his rocket company, SpaceX, a year after its founding. A 2019 Bloomberg report said that while working for the company in Washington, DC, Davis launched a dessert shop called Mr. Yogato.

Davis' ties with Musk have only deepened since then. Davis, a Stanford University-educated aerospace engineer, helped Musk launch the Boring Company, a tunneling and construction business, in 2016. He was later appointed president and CEO.

He was also said to have advised the billionaire in the early days of Musk's Twitter takeover, where Musk initiated a sweeping layoff plan that reduced head count by almost 90% in six months.

Bloomberg reported that Davis was so willing to help Musk during the takeover in October 2022 that he slept at Twitter's offices with his partner and newborn baby.

It's unclear how Davis will help steer Musk's cost-cutting ambitions when Trump's second term in the White House begins, though Bloomberg's report offers some clues based on Davis' activities at Musk's other companies.

It said Davis' leadership responsibilities at the Boring Company involved "signing off on costs as low as a few hundred dollars," adding that he "drives hard bargains with suppliers."

During his stint at SpaceX, Davis was said to have helped Musk find a $3,900 alternative to a part that cost $120,000.

• Elon Musk went all-in to get Trump elected. Now, he's trying to shake up Washington.
• He's racked up some wins so far. But some of the limits of his influence are coming into view.
• Here's a running list of Musk's wins and losses since Trump was reelected.

Since pouring hundreds of millions of dollars into helping President-elect Donald Trump win the 2024 election, Elon Musk has emerged as a major Washington power player.

Musk has the ear of the incoming president, is set to co-lead a "Department of Government Efficiency" initiative with Vivek Ramaswamy, and has already demonstrated an ability to influence the course of major legislation.

He hasn't won every single time, though. Musk's brash style has clashed at times with how Washington typically works, and he's encountered some losses here and there.

Here's a running list of where Musk has won as he's sought to influence Washington — and where he's lost.

Loss: Trying to get Rick Scott elected as Senate GOP leader

The week after Trump's reelection, Musk made his first major foray into the politics of Washington, enthusiastically backing Sen. Rick Scott of Florida to become the next Senate GOP leader.

Over the course of a dayslong online pressure campaign led by several MAGA-world voices, Musk referred to one of Scott's competitors, Sen. John Thune of South Dakota, as the "top choice of Democrats." Senators privately grumbled that they were being bullied by outside figures.

It didn't work.

Scott received just 13 votes, and Thune — a close ally of outgoing Senate GOP Leader Mitch McConnell — won the prize instead.

One key factor in Scott's loss may have been the fact that the vote was conducted via secret ballot, insulating senators from public backlash.

Win, for now: Lawmakers' rapturous embrace of DOGE

Perhaps the biggest win for Musk on Capitol has been lawmakers' outpouring of support for DOGE.

When Musk and Ramaswamy visited Capitol Hill in December, they were greeted like celebrities, with Republicans eyeing the government-efficiency initiative as an opportunity to enact all sorts of spending cuts they've long sought.

Some Democrats are even interested in getting involved, particularly when it comes to defense cuts.

What remains to be seen, however, is what DOGE ends up becoming in practice — and whether Musk and Ramaswamy are able to implement the trillions of dollars in spending cuts they've floated.

Win: Trump appoints a key ally to chair the FCC

Musk is likely to benefit significantly from Trump naming Brendan Carr to chair the Federal Communications Commission.

It's not just that Carr might be generally favorable toward Musk. He's also emerged as a public cheerleader of the billionaire businessman, including posting a photo with him earlier this year on X.

Elon Musk has transformed long-dormant industries, and he’s developed a first principles “production algorithm” to deliver results.

It’s a great blueprint for reforming the Administrative State, driving efficiency in government, and unleashing a new cycle of American innovation. pic.twitter.com/JySzEtCsyj

— Brendan Carr (@BrendanCarrFCC) August 26, 2024

Carr has publicly gone to bat for Musk before, including sending a letter to Brazilian regulators excoriating them for enacting a "cascading set of apparently unlawful and partisan political actions" after the country briefly banned X.

Musk may also benefit financially. The FCC oversees the country's broadband systems, and Musk's Starlink could see a windfall under the incoming Trump administration.

When the FCC denied government subsidies to Starlink and another broadband provider in 2022, Carr blasted the decision.

Loss: Trying to get a kids' online safety bill passed at the last minute

In December, Musk threw his support behind the Kids Online Safety Act, a sweeping piece of legislation that would force social media sites to alter their design to protect users under the age of 17.

Versions of the bill have been around since 2022, and online safety has become a bipartisan concern on Capitol Hill in recent years.

While the bill passed the Senate in June, it's been stalled in the House, where some Republicans have raised freedom-of-speech concerns. Musk and X helped negotiated a revised version of the bill in a bid to gain more support.

That effort was shot down by House Speaker Mike Johnson, who told reporters that the bill wouldn't be moving before the end of the year.

Speaker Mike Johnson tells ⁦@mkraju⁩ that it is unlikely KOSA (kids online safety act) gets done this year

Johnson said he thinks the bill needs "a little more tweaking," and that ultimately it will be able to move forward "early next year." pic.twitter.com/mvPV7U8din

— haleytalbotcnn (@haleytalbotcnn) December 12, 2024

Win, sort of: Tanking a government funding bill

Musk's highest-profile flexing of his muscles on Capitol Hill happened in mid-December, when he led an online pressure campaign that resulted in the tanking of a short-term government funding bill.

The billionaire businessman and other conservatives cast the legislation as an example of just the kind of wasteful spending they're hoping to eliminate via DOGE.

In doing so, he got out ahead of Trump, who didn't weigh in on the legislation until well after it became clear that it wouldn't advance. That led Democrats to mockingly refer to Musk as the real leader of the GOP, a notion that Trump's team sought to tamp down.

While Musk succeeded in killing the initial bill, lawmakers didn't end up shutting down the government, as he suggested they should.

And Congress eventually passed a spending bill that, while significantly shorter than the initial bill Musk opposed, did many of the same things.

At one point, Musk publicly wondered if it was a "Republican bill or a Democrat bill."

So is this a Republican bill or a Democrat bill? 🤔 https://t.co/C54cbLGoGR

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 20, 2024

• Some Democrats are dismissing the forthcoming DOGE push to cut wasteful government spending.
• Others in the party aren't totally writing off what Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy are selling.
• Several key progressives believe they can work with the DOGE regarding the defense budget.

President-elect Donald Trump has grand plans to reduce the size of government, and he has said he'll use Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy's Department of Government Efficiency as a vehicle to make his intentions a reality.

Several Democrats, including Reps. Ro Khanna of California and Jared Moskowitz of Florida, have already signaled that they want to be a part of the conversation regarding any proposals.

Here are the congressional Democrats who could potentially give DOGE's recommendations a bipartisan boost:

Rep. Jared Moskowitz of Florida

Moskowitz was the first Democratic lawmaker to join the House's DOGE caucus, which will partner with the DOGE commission and look into ways to rein in spending.

The congressman in December told Business Insider that his overall mission is to reorganize the Department of Homeland Security so the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the Secret Service reports squarely to the commander-in-chief.

"If this is where that conversation is going to happen, I'm happy to be at the table," Moskowitz said. "And if they want to do stupid stuff, I'll call it out and I'll vote against it."

In a recent NPR interview, Moskowitz said joining the DOGE caucus isn't an indication that he's fully embracing Trump's legislative worldview.

"On some issues I'm progressive. On other issues I'm conservative, and I think that's how most of my constituents are," he said.

Rep. Val Hoyle of Oregon

Hoyle is another Democratic lawmaker who's joined the DOGE Caucus and is firmly standing behind the decision.

In a recent statement, she said she came to Washington "to be in the rooms where the tough conversations are happening" — while also affirming her commitment to protecting Social Security.

"I oppose cuts to the Social Security Trust Fund — always have and always will," she said.

"The DOGE Caucus is a forum to discuss ways to find savings in the budget," she continued. "Anyone who thinks there aren't opportunities to make government more efficient and effective is not living in the real world. This isn't a partisan issue."

Rep. Ro Khanna of California

Khanna, who represents a district that includes a chunk of the Silicon Valley, is known for his progressive views. He has crossed the aisle on a range of issues, including legislation involving technology and veterans.

"President Trump signed five of my bills in his first term. I think I was the California Democrat who had the most bills signed by him, and it's because I looked for areas of common ground," Khanna said in a December interview with Spectrum News.

Regarding the DOGE, Khanna said he hopes to work with the commission to root out wasteful spending in the Department of Defense.

"American taxpayers want and deserve the best return on their investment," he recently wrote in a MSNBC op-ed. "Let's put politics aside and work with DOGE to reduce wasteful defense spending."

Sen. Chris Coons of Delaware

During a November appearance on Fox News, Coons, a close ally of President Joe Biden, seemingly expressed an openness to some of DOGE's goals.

"They could save tens or even hundreds of billions of dollars," he said at the time. "Depending on how it's structured and what they do, this could be a constructive undertaking that ought to be embraced."

Coons also threw cold water on the $2 trillion figure, arguing that "there's no way" to make such dramatic spending cuts without impacting programs like Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid.

Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont

Sanders, a longtime progressive champion, turned heads when he wrote on X that "Elon Musk is right" regarding the need to tackle wasteful spending in government.

"The Pentagon, with a budget of $886 billion, just failed its 7th audit in a row. It's lost track of billions," he said. "Last year, only 13 senators voted against the Military Industrial Complex and a defense budget full of waste and fraud. That must change."

Rep. Tom Suozzi of New York

Suozzi, a Long Island congressman known for his moderate brand of politics, said he looked forward to Musk and Ramaswamy's high-profile December visit to Capitol Hill to meet with lawmakers. However, Suozzi wrote on X that he was told the meeting wasn't open to Democratic members, a development he said was "unfortunate."

"I would have liked to attend the meeting and explore whether there are any opportunities to work across party lines to promote cost savings and efficiencies," he said. "Many of us on this side of the aisle share both the goal of making government more efficient, and actually have experience doing it."

• Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy pressured Republicans to scrap their bill to keep the government funded.
• The US government is now set to shut down early Saturday morning if Congress doesn't act.
• A shutdown would furlough thousands of federal workers, impacting programs many Americans rely on.

The US is once again on the brink of a government shutdown following intense pressure from President-elect Donald Trump and his newly created DOGE commission.

It would mean federal workers are temporarily out of work, and Americans could experience slowdowns at airport security and customer-service delays for programs like Social Security. During the last government shutdown under Trump, national parks shuttered and flights were delayed or rerouted because of limited transportation staffing.

The possibility of a shutdown starting at 12:01 a.m. Saturday comes after the House of Representatives seemed poised this week to approve a continuing resolution to keep the government funded through March. However, following intense criticism on social media from Trump and the leaders of his new Department of Government Efficiency, Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, House Republicans scrapped the bill.

They took issue with the inclusion of a range of items in the bill that they said were not relevant to government funding, including pandemic preparedness and a pay raise for lawmakers.

Ramaswamy posted on X on Wednesday morning that the bill is "full of excessive spending, special interest giveaways & pork barrel politics."

Musk also wrote on X on Wednesday that a government shutdown is "infinitely better than passing a horrible bill."

Trump and his vice president-elect, JD Vance, released a joint statement Wednesday saying the resolution would "give Congress a pay increase while many Americans are struggling this Christmas."

Now, Congress must find a new funding solution in just over 24 hours, leaving Americans on the brink of the first government shutdown since 2018. Here's what that could mean.

What happens in a government shutdown

Every federal agency is required to prepare for a government shutdown by creating contingency plans to submit to the Office of Management and Budget. Each agency outlines how it will structure its workforce in a shutdown, including how many workers it will furlough and for how long.

This means federal workers would be affected first, with many finding themselves temporarily out of work. The longer the shutdown lasts, the more severe the consequences for Americans would be, but if federal workers are furloughed, agencies will be strained to carry out their usual daily functions.

For example, the Social Security Administration's latest contingency plan said it expects to furlough 8,103 of its 59,000 employees at the start of a shutdown. This means that while Social Security payments would still continue to reach Americans, customer service would be limited for beneficiaries dealing with payment issues.

During a government shutdown, active-duty military service members would remain on duty but may go unpaid until funding is restored. The Department of Education's latest contingency plan, from 2023, said that it would have to pause most of its grantmaking activities during a shutdown, including its review of grant applications from local school districts.

The Department of Transportation's contingency plan in 2024 said that while facility service inspections and air-traffic-controller training would cease, essential services like air travel would continue. The Department of Homeland Security's most recent contingency plan said that the Transportation Security Administration would furlough over 2,000 workers, likely resulting in longer wait times for travelers at airports.

The US Postal Service, however, would not be affected by a shutdown because it's an independent agency.

Additionally, a 2023 brief from the progressive think tank Center for American Progress said that a number of federal programs "immediately cease" during federal shutdowns, including the processing of new small business loan applications, workplace safety inspections, NASA research programs, and federal loans to farmers.

The collapse of the previous deal means the clock is ticking for both parties to come to an agreement on avoiding a government shutdown before the weekend.

Karine Jean-Pierre, the White House press secretary, criticized the recent government shutdown threats in a statement Wednesday.

"Triggering a damaging government shutdown would hurt families who are gathering to meet with their loved ones and endanger the basic services Americans from veterans to Social Security recipients rely on," she said. "A deal is a deal. Republicans should keep their word."

• Elon Musk's DOGE has hired about 10 people so far, per Bloomberg.
• Boring Co. CEO Steve Davis and ex-Trump tech adviser Michael Kratsios are interviewing hires.
• The commission said in November that applicants could send their résumés via DM on X.

Elon Musk is tapping a mix of old and new faces to meet DOGE's staffing needs.

Last month, President-elect Donald Trump announced that Musk would co-lead an advisory group called the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, alongside Vivek Ramaswamy.

DOGE, Trump said in his announcement, would be tasked with slashing excess regulations and trimming wasteful government spending. The commission is set to conclude its work by July 4, 2026.

On Wednesday, Bloomberg reported that The Boring Company CEO Steve Davis and former US chief technology officer Michael Kratsios were interviewing potential hires. DOGE has hired about 10 people thus far, the outlet reported, citing people familiar with the matter.

Musk's commission is also looking to recruit software engineers, including those with experience in artificial intelligence, per Bloomberg.

Much of the group's staffing is still unclear, including whether these are full-time roles, where they will be based, and how they will be paid.

According to a Bloomberg, DOGE is currently operating out of a SpaceX-leased office located near the White House.

In November, Musk said in an X post that DOGE employees will be involved in "tedious work" and draw zero compensation.

DOGE so far: a mix of Musk and Trump staffers

Davis is no stranger to Musk's enterprises.

The Boring Company chief holds a doctoral degree in economics from George Mason University and started out as a SpaceX engineer. Musk later handpicked Davis to run his tunneling company.

Davis was also involved in Musk's purchase of Twitter in 2022 and played a key role in Musk's pro-Trump super PAC, America PAC.

Joining Davis is Kratsios, who served as Trump's top technology advisor during his first administration. Prior to joining the Trump administration, Kratsios was tech billionaire Peter Thiel's chief of staff and a principal at Thiel Capital.

Kratsios is a managing director at Scale AI, a data labeling startup.

DOGE's first reported hire was announced by Trump — not Musk or Ramaswamy — earlier this month.

In a Truth Social post on December 4, Trump said that Republican lawyer William Joseph McGinley will serve as the commission's counsel.

McGinley, a former partner at the law firm Jones Day, served as Trump's White House cabinet secretary from 2017 to 2019.

Silicon Valley appears to have figured prominently in Musk's work on DOGE.

The Tesla and SpaceX CEO has reportedly been consulting Silicon Valley leaders, such as venture capitalist Marc Andreessen and Uber cofounder turned food tech entrepreneur Travis Kalanick, about his plans for the commission.

In November, the commission started an account on Musk's social network X and said that applicants could send in their CVs via direct message.

"We don't need more part-time idea generators. We need super high-IQ small-government revolutionaries willing to work 80+ hours per week on unglamorous cost-cutting," the post said.

Musk did not respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.

Grubhub will pay $25 million to settle a lawsuit from the Federal Trade Commission and Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul over unlawful practices, including misleading customers about delivery costs, deceiving drivers about potential earnings, and listing restaurants on its platform without their permission. The agencies claim that Grubhub hid the true cost of its delivery […]

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• Elizabeth Warren wants President-elect Trump to set conflict-of-interest rules for Elon Musk.
• Warren called any lack of rules an "invitation for corruption on a scale not seen in our lifetimes."
• Musk is set to play an influential role in Trump's second term as a co-lead for the DOGE.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren on Monday asked President-elect Donald Trump to set conflict-of-interest rules that would apply to Tesla CEO Elon Musk, who's set to take on a high-profile role as a co-lead of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).

The Massachusetts Democrat and former 2020 presidential candidate sent the letter to Trump's transition team, according to The Washington Post, noting that the team's members have to adhere to an ethics policy that compels them to "avoid both actual and apparent conflicts of interest."

Musk, who spent over $250 million to help elect Trump and boost other GOP candidates ahead of the 2024 general election, has been one of Trump's most omnipresent confidants in recent months, accompanying the president-elect on trips and sitting in on his talks with world leaders.

Trump has tasked Musk and former GOP presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy with cutting government waste through the DOGE. The pair have said they want to cut $2 trillion from the federal budget.

"Putting Mr. Musk in a position to influence billions of dollars of government contracts and regulatory enforcement without a stringent conflict of interest agreement in place is an invitation for corruption on a scale not seen in our lifetimes," Warren said in her letter.

"Currently, the American public has no way of knowing whether the advice that he is whispering to you in secret is good for the country — or merely good for his own bottom line," she continued.

Trump spokesperson Karoline Leavitt in a statement to Business Insider responded to Warren by praising Musk's influence and criticizing the Democratic lawmaker. Leavitt called Warren a "career politician whose societal impact is 1/1024th of Elon Musk's" and said Trump's transition team was adhering to high ethical guidelines.

Musk was one of Trump's highest-profile surrogates during the presidential race, spending weeks campaigning for the president-elect in pivotal Pennsylvania, which Trump would go on to win en route to a national victory.

The U.S. Federal Trade Commission passed a rule on Tuesday banning hidden “junk fees” for live events, hotels, and vacation rentals. The agency says the new rule prohibits “bait-and-switch pricing,” and other practices that hide total prices and bury junk fees in the live-event ticketing and short-term lodging industries, noting that these “unfair and deceptive” […]

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