Elon Musk is “not a freelancer.” Victor Davis Hanson responds to critics who say Musk has no authority to access Govt spending

Partial Transcript:

“He’s more legitimate—or he has more statutory legitimacy—than earlier presidential advisors, like Harry Hopkins, who moved into the White House under the FDR administration, or Bernard Baruch, who basically ran two world wars, in terms of domestic production, under Woodrow Wilson and FDR. So, let’s just dispel the idea that he’s doing anything unusual. …

“As far as the executive orders that created the DOGE program and eliminated USAID—that was perfectly legal in itself—USAID was created by John F. Kennedy in 1961 by an executive order. There was a statutory direction for the president to disperse foreign aid into a comprehensive body, but it didn’t say USAID—he could do whatever he wanted. …

“And so, Donald Trump has decided to end an autonomous USAID and fold it into the State Department for disaster relief or poverty relief or famine relief. …

“All Donald Trump is doing is saying, ‘I don’t believe the impoundment act is legal. We’ll see what the Supreme Court says—but I’m just following the precedent that Joe Biden did.’ But now, the shoe’s on the other foot.”

Source: The Daily Signal