But Trump has shown no inclination to adhere to the separation of powers that gives a lead role to Congress. Instead, in his first two weeks back in the White House, he made clear he is determined to run the government based on executive decrees, not by proposing and passing conservative laws in Congress.

Washington – Elon Musk is rapidly consolidating control over large swaths of the federal government with President Donald Trump‘s blessing, sidelining career officials, gaining access to sensitive databases and dismantling a leading source of humanitarian assistance.

The highest-ranking Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee, Ron Wyden of Oregon, on Friday sent a letter to Trump’s Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent expressing concern that “officials associated with Musk may have intended to access these payment systems to illegally withhold payments to any number of programs.”