How Musk Monetized Government While Killing What Actually Works MeidasTouch Network Jul 15 Guest article by Merici Vinton, former DOGE worker Editorial credit: Joshua Sukoff / Shutterstock.com Elon Musk might be out of the Oval Office and Trump’s good graces, but he’s trying to sneak back into politics by starting a new political party. What’s clear following Musk’s brief reign over the federal government via DOGE is that he never cared about making things work for people. I know this because I was there. We shouldn’t expect any different, and nothing better, from his so-called America Party. Meidas+ is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. DOGE was a shiny new object for the wealthiest man in the world. Elon Musk bought, then exploited an opportunity to bring his friends and fellow internet trolls into the halls of the most powerful government in the world so they could feel and flex their own power. His project was never about making the lives of the American people better or easier, it was always about his own brand and self-interest. I’d expect the same from any future political endeavor. As “Buddy in Chief” Musk used his position to meet with world leaders—not to advocate for American interests, but to open doors for his businesses. Americans were promised innovation and cutting billions in waste, goals that were blatantly undercut and unmet. In his time in our nation’s capitol, he did deals to ensure his companies were protected from oversight, as spotted by the Economic Policy Institute: Tesla faced a Department of Labor probe into racial and sexual harassment—until the agency responsible was dismantled. Neuralink was under investigation by the USDA’s inspector general, likely over botched animal experiments—until the watchdogs were fired Starlink was being examined for potential unauthorized access by Russia—until USAID itself was gutted Tesla Autopilot was under DOT review—until the investigation was dropped and safety regulations were weakened. Musk didn’t modernize government. He monetized it. The thing is, there are actually models to make government work better without ransacking it. For example - Direct File. Direct File is a free, online, beloved tax filing service offered by the IRS. Direct File’s user satisfaction is 94%, has a Net Promoter Score that rivals Apple and Netflix, and increased trust in the IRS by 86% among its users. And in spite of that, or perhaps because of that, DOGE wants to kill it. Direct File is a model of both government efficiency and what happens when supremely talented technical leaders join government. The IRS effectively built a startup in government and that talent could have launched not just Direct File, but support modernizing the IRS - had they only been given a chance. While Musk dismantled agencies investigating his companies, civil servants like me built Direct File into a tax service more beloved than Netflix. It’s now incumbent upon us to make sure that grifters like Elon don’t get close to the halls of power by buying their seats and touting empty promises. And when we get there, we’re bringing what works: efficiency for people, cross-cutting bureaucracy to get data-driven results, and committed public servants. We can build again and government can deliver better. We don’t need to be bought off by another Musk distraction. Watch MeidasTouch’s interview with Merici Vinton here. Merici Vinton is a public sector technologist and former Senior Advisor to the IRS Commissioner. She was a chief architect of Direct File and previously served with the U.S. Digital Service, now known as DOGE. She currently is a Future of Tax Fellow at the Economic Security Project, Exec Fellow in Applied Tech Policy at UC Berkeley, and a Senior Fellow at the Federation of American Scientists. Meidas+ is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support our work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.