When It Comes to Covering Musk's Government Takeover, WIRED Is Showing Everyone How It's Done

I spend a lot of time criticizing media coverage, and for good reason. But it’s equally important to highlight when outlets get it right — and WIRED’s reporting on Elon Musk’s ongoing takeover of the federal government has been nothing short of exceptional.

While mainstream outlets coverage of Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has been hit and miss, WIRED has consistently broken major stories revealing the true scope of what’s happening. Their detailed reporting on how Musk’s allies infiltrated the General Services Administration showed how his team is attempting to gain unprecedented access to federal systems. They exposed the “deferred resignation” scheme targeting federal workers, connecting it directly to similar tactics Musk used at Twitter. And they’ve consistently tracked which Musk loyalists are being installed in which agencies.

This is what adversarial journalism looks like. Instead of just transcribing what powerful people say, WIRED’s reporters dig into what they’re actually doing. They’ve tracked down documents, spoken with sources inside agencies, and pieced together how Musk’s takeover is actually working in practice.

Check out this impressive list of stories they’ve broken since Trump took office:

• Elon Musk Plays DOGE Ball—and Hits America’s Geek Squad (Steven Levy, 1/22/25)

• DOGE Will Allow Elon Musk to Surveil the US Government From the Inside (Vittoria Elliott, 1/24/25)

• Elon Musk Lackeys Have Taken Over the Office of Personnel Management (Vittoria Elliott, 1/28/25)

• Elon Musk Is Running the Twitter Playbook on the Federal Government (Zoë Schiffer, 1/28/25)

• Elon Musk Tells Friends He’s Sleeping at the DOGE Offices in DC (Zoë Schiffer, 1/29/25)

• Government Tech Workers Forced to Defend Projects to Random Elon Musk Bros (Makena Kelly, Vittoria Elliott, 1/30/25)

• Elon Musk’s Friends Have Infiltrated Another Government Agency (Makena Kelly, Zoë Schiffer, 1/31/25)

• US Government Websites Are Disappearing in Real Time (Vittoria Elliott, Dhruv Mehrotra, Dell Cameron, 2/1/25)

• DOGE Staff Had Questions About the ‘Resign’ Email. Their New HR Chief Dodged Them (Makena Kelly, 2/1/25)

• The Young, Inexperienced Engineers Aiding Elon Musk’s Government Takeover (Vittoria Elliott, 2/2/25)

• Pronouns Are Being Forcibly Removed From Government Signatures (Dell Cameron, 2/3/25)

• Elon Musk Ally Tells Staff ‘AI-First’ Is the Future of Key Government Agency (Makena Kelly, 2/3/25)

• Elon Musk’s DOGE Is Still Blocking HIV/AIDS Relief Exempted From Foreign Aid Cuts (Kate Knibbs, 2/3/25)

• A 25-Year-Old With Elon Musk Ties Has Direct Access to the Federal Payment System (Vittoria Elliott, Dhruv Mehrotra, Leah Feiger, Tim Marchman, 2/4/25)

• Federal Workers Sue to Disconnect DOGE Server (Dell Cameron, 2/4/25)

• State Department Puts ‘All Direct Hire’ USAID Personnel on Administrative Leave (Kate Knibbs, 2/4/25)

And here’s why this kind of journalism matters: When an unelected billionaire is seizing control of government agencies, we need reporters willing to show exactly how it’s happening. We need outlets that will dig past the press releases and official statements to expose the actual machinery of this takeover. Most of all, we need journalism that isn’t afraid to call things what they are.

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That’s what WIRED is doing right now, and they deserve both praise and support for it. The good news is that you can currently get a full year of access to their reporting for just $5. Given that they’re one of the few outlets consistently breaking news about what’s actually happening in our government right now, that’s an absolute steal.

I don’t usually plug subscription deals (and no, they’re not paying me to say this), but this kind of journalism deserves support. If you want to understand what’s really happening as Musk consolidates his power over federal agencies, WIRED’s reporting is essential reading.