Do Not Worry, One Republican Is Concerned About Elon’s Rampage

My colleague Kate Riga was on Capitol Hill Tuesday trying to pin Senate Republicans down on the unmitigated disaster unfolding this week as Elon Musk and his DOGE tech guys bust down doors at a handful of federal departments and bureaus, breaching sensitive data, promising to defund agencies, and, in doing so, dropping a bomb on the constitutional separation of power.

None of the Republicans TPM spoke with really saw a huge issue with the whole thing. One spoke vaguely about how there might be some complications with the unelected billionaire undermining Congress’ allocation of funding, but assured us that that concern would be dealt with before anything unseemly happened. Sen. RonJohn even told Kate he is “happy” when “anybody” takes a look at supposed “waste, fraud and abuse throughout government” — sidestepping the obvious concerns with that “anybody” being the erratic and conflict-o-interest strewn world’s richest man and a gaggle of loyal young coders.

It’s an already-tired talking point just a few weeks into Trump’s second term. Senate Republicans proved just how feckless they intend to be when the majority voted to confirm the uniquely dangerous and unqualified Pete Hegseth as Defense Secretary. They’ve only doubled down in the last week as they voted through further alarm-raising nominees, including RFK Jr. and Tulsi Gabbard out of committee.

It’s been speculated that Musk’s rampage won’t last forever. People who suck up more oxygen/headlines than Trump tend to have a short shelf life in his inner circle. But the President is apparently too busy weaving imperialistic visions in front of the White House press pool to notice, at least for the moment, that his new buddy has stolen the spotlight.

And in the meantime the havoc that Musk is wreaking has evolved into a constitutional crisis. Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) — one of the three who voted against Hegseth’s nomination last month and one of two Senate Republicans who sometimes has a backbone — said as much in remarks to reporters on Wednesday.

“There’s no doubt that the president appears to have empowered Elon Musk far beyond what I think is appropriate,” she said. “I think a lot of it is going to end up in court.”