{"id":1053052,"date":"2025-05-30T13:02:54","date_gmt":"2025-05-30T17:02:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/democrats.org\/?p=1053052"},"modified":"2025-05-30T13:02:55","modified_gmt":"2025-05-30T17:02:55","slug":"musk-booted-from-white-house-amid-alarming-allegations-of-serious-drug-abuse-but-not-before-bulldozing-social-security-and-critical-programs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/democrats.org\/news\/musk-booted-from-white-house-amid-alarming-allegations-of-serious-drug-abuse-but-not-before-bulldozing-social-security-and-critical-programs\/","title":{"rendered":"Musk Booted from White House Amid Alarming Allegations of Serious Drug Abuse \u2014 But Not Before Bulldozing Social Security and Critical Programs"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In response to Elon Musk exiting the Trump administration, <\/em>DNC Chair Ken Martin released the following statement:<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt was clear to the American people that something was seriously off<\/a> with Elon Musk from the moment he stepped foot into the White House \u2014 and yet Donald Trump gave him access to Americans\u2019 Social Security data. This afternoon, Trump will stand side-by-side with the man who tried to dismantle Social Security, gave an inept group of kids access to our private data, and was apparently on a drug-fueled bender while he looted the government. While America\u2019s kids and seniors suffered, Musk was enriching himself on the taxpayers\u2019 dime with billions in federal contracts. Trump should be launching an investigation into Musk, not throwing a goodbye party.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

NEW: Donald Trump\u2019s shadow president Elon Musk is leaving Washington amid alarming allegations of serious drug abuse and after gutting programs millions of Americans rely on. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

New York Times<\/a>: \u201cA Disillusioned Musk, Distanced From Trump, Says He\u2019s Exiting Washington\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

New York Times<\/a>: \u201cAs Elon Musk became one of Donald J. Trump\u2019s closest allies last year, leading raucous rallies and donating about $275 million to help him win the presidency, he was also using drugs far more intensely than previously known, according to people familiar with his activities. \u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201c[H]e has exhibited erratic behavior, insulting cabinet members, gesturing like a Nazi and garbling his answers in a staged interview.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wall Street Journal<\/a>: \u201cThe Trump administration has started cutting tens of thousands of jobs through a plan encouraged by Elon Musk\u2019s Department of Government Efficiency \u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn interviews, more than 60 current and former federal workers said the wide slashing has worsened services Americans receive and hindered remaining staff working on areas like improving healthcare and lowering energy bills.<\/strong> It also has discouraged top talent from working for the federal government.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

New York Times<\/a>: \u201cA new DOGE tally claims that erasing rules on credit card fees, appliance standards and health insurance \u2018saves the American people\u2019 money. Data show the opposite.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

REMINDER: Musk took a \u201cwrecking ball\u201d to the Social Security Administration, threatening hard-earned benefits for millions of Americans amid a 50-year low on staffing.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

New York Times<\/a>: \u201c\u2018Just a Mess\u2019: Staff Cuts, Rushed Changes and Anxiety at Social Security\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Axios<\/a>: \u201cDOGE is taking its wrecking ball to the Social Security Administration, <\/strong>the agency responsible for overseeing retirement and disability benefits for 73 million Americans. \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe agency announced last month it seeks to cut about 7,000 employees, or 12% of staff, through voluntary resignations and a reduction-in-force plan due Thursday.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Washington Post<\/a>: \u201cLong waits, waves of calls, website crashes: Social Security is breaking down\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe Social Security Administration website crashed four times in 10 days<\/strong> this month because the servers were overloaded, blocking millions of retirees and disabled Americans from logging in to their online accounts. In the field, office managers have resorted to answering phones in place of receptionists because so many employees have been pushed out. Amid all this, the agency no longer has a system to monitor customer experience because that office was eliminated as part of the cost-cutting efforts led by Elon Musk.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

After Musk funneled <\/strong>millions<\/strong><\/a> into Trump\u2019s campaign, he was rewarded with billions in federal contracts and his net worth skyrocketed. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Daily Mail<\/a>: \u201cThe federal government awarded Elon Musk\u2019s company a $38.85 million contract on Monday as the billionaire works to slash other contracts.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

New York Times<\/a>: \u201cMr. Musk\u2019s companies secured $13 billion in contracts over the past five years<\/strong>, making SpaceX, which collects most of that money, one of the biggest government contractors. There is already talk during the Trump administration of expanding these deals, particularly at the Air Force.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Benzinga<\/a>: \u201cBy mid-December, Musk\u2019s fortune had jumped from $262 billion before the election to a peak of $486 billion<\/strong>, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, fueled by a massive surge in Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) stock.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Washington Post<\/a>: \u201cLess than two weeks after President Donald Trump announced 50 percent tariffs on goods from the tiny African nation of Lesotho, the country\u2019s communications regulator held a meeting with representatives of Starlink. \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cA series of internal government messages obtained by The Post reveal how U.S. embassies and the State Department have pushed nations to clear hurdles for U.S. satellite companies, often mentioning Starlink by name.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In response to Elon Musk exiting the Trump administration, DNC Chair Ken Martin released the following statement: \u201cIt was clear to the American people that something was seriously off with Elon Musk from the moment he stepped foot into the White House \u2014 and yet Donald Trump gave him access to Americans\u2019 Social Security data. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":293,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1053052","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-press-release"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nMusk Booted from White House Amid Alarming Allegations of Serious Drug Abuse \u2014 But Not Before Bulldozing Social Security and Critical Programs - Democrats<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/democrats.org\/news\/musk-booted-from-white-house-amid-alarming-allegations-of-serious-drug-abuse-but-not-before-bulldozing-social-security-and-critical-programs\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Democrats\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-05-30T17:02:54+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-05-30T17:02:55+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/democrats.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Black-Logo-White-Fill-For-Email.png?w=1024\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Shelby Reese\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Shelby Reese\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/democrats.org\/news\/musk-booted-from-white-house-amid-alarming-allegations-of-serious-drug-abuse-but-not-before-bulldozing-social-security-and-critical-programs\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/democrats.org\/news\/musk-booted-from-white-house-amid-alarming-allegations-of-serious-drug-abuse-but-not-before-bulldozing-social-security-and-critical-programs\/\",\"name\":\"Musk Booted from White House Amid Alarming Allegations of Serious Drug Abuse \u2014 But Not Before Bulldozing Social Security and Critical Programs - 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