Elon Musk’s role as the head of the Department of Government Efficiency, also known as DOGE, is on the surface a dramatic effort to overhaul the inefficiencies of federal bureaucracy. But beneath the rhetoric of cost-cutting and regulatory streamlining lies a troubling scenario.

Over the years, Musk and his businesses have received at least $38 billion in government contracts, loans, subsidies and tax credits, often at critical moments, a Washington Post analysis has found, helping seed the growth that has made him the world’s richest person.

President Donald Trump will meet with his cabinet for the first time on Wednesday, along with Elon Musk, who has threatened to fire many of their workers under the directive of the Department of Government Efficiency.

Musk said over the weekend that federal workers would receive "an email requesting to understand what they got done last week."