This article was originally posted on Jennifer’s newsletter.
The Trump-approved, Elon Musk-executed takeover of the non-military operations of the U.S. government is a five-alarm fire, call 911, shout it from the rooftops moment. It’s also a banner headline, lead story, 24/7 non-stop coverage level of a news story. Put simply: it is the biggest story in the country, if not the world, right now. More and more news outlets clearly understand the gravity of the moment, while some are still playing catch-up, including The New York Times.
Independent journalist Marisa Kabas beat large news organizations with hundreds of reporters with her exclusive report last week on the startling Office of Management and Budget (OMB) memo calling for a “pause” in federal funding of nearly every government program. That story sent shock waves through the country that are still reverberating over a week later. It’s proof one hard working journalist can make a big impact. As Kabas continues to work the story, she’s also seen her subscription base double since that enormous scoop.
Wired has also seen big subscriber growth since it started posting one shocking scoop after the other on the Musk government takeover. Vittoria Elliot has an absolutely mind-boggling piece about Musk’s cadre of lost boys who are literally pushing top security staffers aside to illegally commandeer government agencies including the General Services Administration (GSA), Office of Personnel Management (OPM) and most recently the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). Wired reporter Makena Kelly has a series of key stories including the infiltration of the GSA, the sneak attack meetings — where long-time government employees have to defend their jobs to Musk’s lackeys — and a look at the enormous holes in the “deferred resignation” scheme.
The most recent Wired exclusive tells how one of the unvetted, inexperienced young men working for Musk “has admin privileges over the code that controls Social Security payments, tax returns, and more.” This paragraph alone should light your hair on fire:
“Two of those sources say that Elez’s privileges include the ability not just to read but to write code on two of the most sensitive systems in the US government: The Payment Automation Manager (PAM) and Secure Payment System (SPS) at the Bureau of the Fiscal Service (BFS). Housed on a top-secret mainframe, these systems control, on a granular level, government payments that in their totality amount to more than a fifth of the US economy.”
Other notable news efforts include Greg Sargent, with his always timely interviews with key players, Pro Publica’s heart wrenching look at the real-life impacts on USAID cutbacks and Charlie Warzel on how Musk is turning the government into a political weapon. We’ve also seen reliable sources from Mother Jones, The American Prospect, KFF and 404 Media.
Techdirt is another must read. As Cathy Gellis points out, we should think of this as “a cyberattack by a rogue actor.” She adds:
“The nation’s infrastructure has just been attacked by the prototypical example of a rogue actor, acting lawlessly, with openly declared hostile intent aiming to disrupt the operation of the nation’s government as the people, expressed through acts of Congress, wanted their government to operate.
What has happened needs to be understood that way, in these gravest terms, in order to provoke the appropriate response from any still-legitimate organs of the American government, which must be as swift and powerful as any time when America’s homeland security has been attacked.”
Another good way to stay on top of this shocking story is the daily recap newsletter by David Kurtz for Talking Points Memo. You can also find smart analysis from Don Moynihan, Nathan Tankus, Abe Newman, Gil Duran, Garrett Graff and Beth Popp Berman. Heather Cox Richardson is, of course, required reading.
NBC News has been particularly strong on the DOJ/ FBI purge story and is now starting to give the Musk incursion the attention it deserves. Hopefully, that means no more stenography-style headlines like this one from Monday: “Elon Musk says he and Trump are shutting down USAID. Musk announced the planned closure of the foreign assistance agency early Monday on social media.” Elon Musk said? Musk announced? Journalists should not normalize Musk’s sudden rise to power with uncritical coverage like that.
Journalists should keep reminding us that no one voted for Elon Musk. Clara Jeffery of Mother Jones put it best: “letting a thin-skinned, Ketamine-fueled, video-game cheating, Nazi apologist billionaire take over the machinery of the United States is not something that anyone voted for.” Putting an end to the media’s longtime Musk worship, like this Axios fanboy story, is also recommended.
The New York Times needs to up its game
Meanwhile, the largest news organization in the country is not yet meeting this critical moment. While Wired and others are furiously documenting Musk’s infiltration into sensitive government databases, The New York Times coverage is more focused on Trump’s tariffs. On Monday, the front page didn’t mention the Musk story at all. On Tuesday, there was a well-reported story, but it stopped short of calling this a coup using instead phrases like “aggressive incursion, major upheaval and flexing of power.” But as Dahlia Lithwick and Mark Joseph Stern of Slate point out, “Elon Musk’s Power Grab Is Lawless, Dangerous, and—Yes—a Coup.” The Times should say so as well.
We also haven’t yet seen the full court press we know the Times is capable of. Remember the onslaught of coverage last year about Joe Biden’s age? In just four days, The New York Times did 33 stories. Then after Biden’s disastrous debate performance in July, The New York Times alone wrote 192 pieces in 7 days. This is a constitutional crisis, but the Times is not yet breaking a sweat. From Jan. 27 until midday on Feb. 4, the Times has done an estimated 33 stories on Elon Musk, just 19 of them specifically about the coup. 19.
That story output by the Times is not remotely acceptable, especially given the enormity of what Trump and Musk are doing to the very foundations of the federal government. Yes, the story is moving fast. Yes, Musk is doing everything he can to keep things hidden. But the Times and other big media outlets must unleash as many resources as possible to this story. Maybe even take a look at Wired and others fearless outlets for inspiration. This unprecedented, diabolical attack by Donald Trump, Elon Musk and a handful of unvetted 20-something kids is the biggest story in the country. We need all hands on deck.
Jennifer Schulze is a Chicago journalist talking about journalism. You can read her columns at Heartland Signal and on her Substack “Indistinct Chatter.” Follow Jennifer on Bluesky @newsjennifer.bsky.social or Threads @newsjennifer_schulze.