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April 6, 2025 21 mins

Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency—DOGE—has become the engine behind a hostile takeover of the U.S. federal government. Guided by the radical Project 2025 blueprint, Musk and Trump are orchestrating a full-scale dismantling of America’s public institutions under the guise of "efficiency."

In Part Three of our six-part Musk series, Bella Goode unpacks how DOGE operates as a power-consolidation machine—firing career public servants, shuttering agencies, and replacing civil governance with political loyalty and chaos. From AI-generated layoff lists to Starlink-run air traffic control, this episode shows how Musk's Silicon Valley playbook is being used to break democracy—by design.

In This Episode:

  • The DOGE Workforce Purge – How Russell Vought and the Project 2025 plan created the legal and ideological framework to fire civil servants and replace them with Trump loyalists.
  • Musk’s Government Takeover – Why Musk was the perfect disruptor to lead DOGE—and how he used startup tactics and unchecked power to reshape Washington.
  • The DOGE Team Leads – A rogue squad of under-30 technocrats and crypto-bros now enforcing loyalty tests and mass layoffs inside federal agencies.
  • Privatizing the Bureaucracy – The FAA under Starlink, budget cuts by crowdsourcing, and government functions handed over to Musk’s allies and corporate interests.
  • Blue Choir Voices – Everyday Americans reflect on Musk’s growing control. Is he a genius—or a threat to democracy?
  • Real Lives, Real Fallout – Visits to communities hit hardest by DOGE, including Social Security office closures and the collapse of essential services.

Next Episode

Episode 16 – The Aftermath: Fallout from Musk’s Government Takeover

We track the chaos unleashed by DOGE—lawsuits, institutional collapse, and rising public resistance. What did Musk and Trump break—and can it be undone?

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Host: Bella Goode

Bella is a former Republican turned democracy advocate raised by middle class parents in Pennsylvania. She is a graduate of Syracuse University and the University of Pennsylvania with a masters of business administration from Wharton and a Masters Degree in Positive Psychology.

Career wise, Bella spent 20 years with American Express in New York and 20 years as an entrepreneur. She started and sold a fitness business that grew to 180 locations worldwide.

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