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‘Another Ethics Conflict’: Musk Directs Candidates to Apply to DOGE via His X Platform
Billionaire Elon Musk is directing candidates interested in working in his new Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) to submit their résumés through his social media platform X, apparently granting himself and X access to what he describes as “super high-IQ small-government revolutionaries willing to work 80+ hours per week on unglamorous cost-cutting.”
Government regulations ordinarily require official communications to be conducted and saved on government servers (remember Hillary Clinton’s private email server). It’s unclear how that would happen under this scenario or why Musk’s and Vivek Ramaswamy’s new department wouldn’t have a government email address and website.
We are very grateful to the thousands of Americans who have expressed interest in helping us at DOGE. We don’t need more part-time idea generators. We need super high-IQ small-government revolutionaries willing to work 80+ hours per week on unglamorous cost-cutting. If that’s…
— Department of Government Efficiency (@DOGE) November 14, 2024
Musk also states that the positions are unpaid.
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“Indeed, this will be tedious work, make lots of enemies & compensation is zero. What a great deal!”
As some have pointed out, for users to contact Musk’s DOGE account via direct message, as his post directs, and to send their résumés, they must have a “verified” account—which costs money.
This “DOGE” account has the gray checkmark, indicating it is a government-run account. The post below encourages applicants to apply by DMing the account.
Except…you can’t unless you give money to @elonmusk. Very efficient. Much profit. Many wow. https://t.co/f03BO4CpN5 pic.twitter.com/2lTbMs8u3Z
— C.J. Petersen 🏳️🌈 🌽 (@cjforiowa) November 14, 2024
“As usual, its another ethics conflict for Elon Musk because you can only DM and apply for the position if you become verified on X. You can only become verified by paying X. Quite efficient use of ethics and scams, isn’t it? No other avenue to apply,” observed Dr. David Weber, whose bio says he “teaches forensic accounting and fraud examination each semester at the Perdue School of Business.”
The MeidasTouch Network adds that the DOGE “account has been given a grey checkmark, verifying it as an official government account. It also only accepts resumes be DM’s, which are solely open to verified X users who pay Elon Musk. This level of corruption is staggering.”
At Slate, Nitish Pahwa also points out that it appears the Department of Government Efficiency is not an actual federal government agency, which ordinarily would require congressional approval and funding.
Pahwa writes, “there’s little clarity on just what this federal ‘partnership’ will formally resemble, how the DOGE entity itself will operate (nonprofit? Obnoxious account on X? Private corporation? Federal advisory committee? Dogecoin-branded merch table? Mirror of an already extant OMB office? Blockchain ledger?), and how the powers Musk and Ramaswamy think they’ll have square with what they’ll actually have.”
READ MORE: Trump’s Defense Nominee Admits He Was ‘Deemed an Extremist’ by the Military
This situation has led some to question why, if DOGE is not a government agency, X has granted it a gray checkmark. X says gray checkmarks are for “government or multilateral” organizations.
The high tech and startup news site TechCrunch last month reported X had “updated its Privacy Policy to indicate that it would allow third-party ‘collaborators’ to train their AI models on X data, unless users opt out. While X owner Elon Musk trained xAI’s Grok AI chatbot on X user data, leading to an investigation by the EU’s lead privacy regulator, the company hadn’t yet amended its policy to indicate its data may also be used by third parties.”
“The addition to the policy implies that X, like Reddit and various media organizations, is looking into licensing data to AI companies as a potential new revenue stream.”
The Washington Post’s Catherine Rampell remarked, “New resume audit study just dropped.”
Responding to Musk’s post Professor of Law Richard Painter, the well-known former Bush White House chief ethics lawyer asked, “Does DOGE need an ethics lawyer?”
See the social media posts above or at this link.
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Sir Edward Davey, a UK Member of Parliament who serves as the leader of the Liberal Democrats, blasted President Donald Trump on Monday, and warned that Britain’s King Charles should not visit the American president later this month.
Quoting President Trump’s recent threat to Iran, “A whole civilization will die tonight,” Sir Davey called the statement, “words I never thought I would hear from an American president,” and “a stark reminder of how reckless, immoral, and completely outside the bounds of international law this president is.”
Davey declared Trump “no friend of the United Kingdom” and “no leader of the free world,” but rather, “a dangerous and corrupt gangster” — and warned that is how Trump must be treated.
“So will the Prime Minister advise the King to call off his state visit to Washington before it’s too late?” Davey asked of Keir Starmer. “Because I really fear, for what Trump might say or do, while our King is forced to stand by his side. We cannot put His Majesty in that position.”
READ MORE: From Iowa to Georgia the Red Wall Is Cracking — and Trump Is the Wrecking Ball
The Independent reports that Starmer did defend the King’s upcoming U.S. state visit, and “held firm, arguing the visit marks the 250th anniversary of the relationship between the two countries.”
BBC News reports that Starmer did call Trump’s threat against Iran “wrong,” and said he would not have used the same words as the U.S. president.
King Charles’ U.S. visit will be the first UK state visit since Queen Elizabeth II came to America in 2007.
Donald Trump is no leader of the free world. He’s a dangerous and corrupt gangster.
The Prime Minister needs to call off the King’s state visit to Washington before it’s too late. pic.twitter.com/xt7nxrDPSu
— Ed Davey (@EdwardJDavey) April 13, 2026
READ MORE: DoorDash Grandma Mum on Trump Tip — and Who She Voted For
The White House, apparently eager to shift focus from President Donald Trump’s failed Iran peace talks to his economic agenda, brought in an Arkansas grandmother who delivers DoorDash to help pay for her husband’s cancer treatments. She knocked on the Oval Office door carrying two brown bags of McDonald’s.
“Nice to see you,” the president said as he opened the door.
“Nice to meet you,” the grandmother of ten grandchildren, Sharon Simmons replied. “I have your DoorDash order for you, Mr. President.”
Even Trump the showman couldn’t help but notice the event looked “staged.”
“The reason for this,” Trump told Simmons, “is that I heard you picked up $11,000 because the tax bill was so big, the refund is the biggest one you’ve ever had.”
“It definitely was,” Simmons said. “I saved over $11,000 by not having to claim” tips, she said.
“It’s such an honor to meet you,” Trump went on to say. “And I think you voted for me?”
“Um, maybe,” Simmons replied, chuckling.
READ MORE: From Iowa to Georgia the Red Wall Is Cracking — and Trump Is the Wrecking Ball
Moments later, a reporter asked Simmons, “Are the White House good tippers? Do you know?”
“Um,” she responded, before Trump said, “Wait,” and pulled cash from his pocket and handed it to her.
“Yes, very,” she then told reporters.
CNN’s Kit Maher later reported that Simmons “wouldn’t reveal how much President Trump tipped her.”
Online critics pushed back on the event.
“Trump’s winning message: A grandma doing Door Dash because her husband’s cancer treatments are too expensive,” wrote the popular political commentary account on X, PatriotTakes.
“Why is she in a position like this to begin with?” asked Lisa Glass on X. “Does he really think that that’s a brag -that a woman has to deliver DoorDash and depend on a few cents more she might get from tips to help pay her husband‘s cancer treatments?!!!!!!”
“Well, I hope someone can talk to her and make her realize that if she had better representation, she might not have to be delivering DoorDash into her senior years to pay for her husband‘s cancer treatments,” she added.
President Trump receives DoorDash McDonald’s order and speaks with delivery driver: “I think you voted for me?”
Delivery driver: “Maybe.” pic.twitter.com/WRRqlLhxOd
— CSPAN (@cspan) April 13, 2026
READ MORE: ‘He Reported to Me in Detail’: Netanyahu’s Boast on Vance Fuels Blowback
Image via Reuters
As the U.S.-Iran peace talks failed over the weekend — at least for now — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reportedly shared remarks with his Cabinet that are fueling blowback.
Vice President JD Vance led the peace talks, along with Trump son-in-law Jared Kushner, and Special Envoy Steve Witkoff.
Axios’ Barak Ravid on Monday morning reported that “Pakistani, Egyptian and Turkish mediators will continue talks with the U.S. and Iran in the coming days in an effort to bridge the remaining gaps and reach a deal to end the war, according to a regional source and a U.S. official.”
Ravid also reported that Netanyahu told his Cabinet, “I spoke yesterday with Vice President J.D. Vance. He called me from his plane on his way back from Islamabad. He reported to me in detail, as this administration does every day, about the development of the negotiations.”
Netanyahu went on to say, “In this case, the explosion in the negotiations. The explosion came from the American side, which could not tolerate Iran’s blatant violation of the agreement to enter the negotiations. The agreement was that they would cease fire, and the Iranians would immediately open the gates. They did not do that. The Americans could not accept that.”
But Netanyahu’s claim that the American Vice President “reported” to him, and the administration has done so “every day,” drew anger.
“Netanyahu is claiming openly that the US Vice President and administration report to him in detail on a daily basis,” wrote journalist Saagar Enjeti.
“‘He reported to me.’ That’s the problem,” observed journalist and documentary filmmaker Sara Afshar.
“For Netanyahu to tell his cabinet that the Trump administration reports to him every day in detail is quite something. I don’t understand how any nativist or sovereignist would accept that,” noted Firas Modad, who writes about the Middle East on Substack.
“America is an Israeli puppet state,” responded economist and author Saifedean Ammous.
READ MORE: White House Fires Back After President’s Doctor Is Asked to Test Trump’s Mental Fitness
Image via Reuters
‘He Reported to Me in Detail’: Netanyahu’s Boast on Vance Fuels Blowback
From Iowa to Georgia the Red Wall Is Cracking — and Trump Is the Wrecking Ball
DoorDash Grandma Mum on Trump Tip — and Who She Voted For
British MP Blasts ‘Corrupt Gangster’ Trump
British MP Blasts ‘Corrupt Gangster’ Trump
DoorDash Grandma Mum on Trump Tip — and Who She Voted For
From Iowa to Georgia the Red Wall Is Cracking — and Trump Is the Wrecking Ball
‘He Reported to Me in Detail’: Netanyahu’s Boast on Vance Fuels Blowback
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