Elon Musk has begun swinging his wrecking ball at the US government, with concerns growing over the unprecedented power that President Donald Trump has handed to the world’s richest man.The South African born billionaire has taken control over the US Treasury’s payments system that manages trillions of dollars. He single-handedly announced the demise of the USAID humanitarian agency. He has helped drive out top officials.For a man who likes to rail against unelected bureaucrats, the unelected Space X and Tesla tycoon has been subject to little accountability as he pushes Trump’s drive to shrink the US government.Trump sought to play down the issue Monday when asked about it in the Oval Office, saying “Elon can’t do and won’t do anything without our approval.””We’ll give him the approval where appropriate, where not appropriate we won’t. But he reports in,” insisted Trump. “It’s something that he feels very strongly about and I’m impressed.”Musk’s powers have seemed almost unbounded, leading to accusations by Democrats of an unconstitutional power grab by both him and his fellow business mogul Trump.So far Musk has been registered as neither a federal employee nor a government official — although US media reported Monday that he had now been registered as a “special government employee.”Critics point to the fact that Musk was the biggest donor to Trump’s victorious election campaign, to the tune of a quarter of a billion dollars. Then there is the fact that his companies also have huge US government contracts.- ‘DOGE kids’ -And while a cute cartoon dog initially adorned the website of Musk’s “Department of Government Efficiency” (DOGE), its later replacement by a dollar sign in a gold circle underscored what the focus would be.His young team of so-called “Doge Kids,” drawn from his own companies, dramatically seized control of the US Treasury Department’s payments system and took key government positions.They have helped push a drive to get federal employees to take severance payments and quit, with an email that closely resembles a message sent to Twitter employees when Musk took over and later renamed the social network X.Musk personally announced that the massive USAID humanitarian agency would be “shutting down” — during a live chat on X — and branded it a “criminal organization.” Their no-holds barred style has raised eyebrows.A dramatic stand-off reportedly ensued when Musk’s aides demanded access to a secure room at USAID where classified information was held.There was a similar situation when a career Treasury official was reportedly put on administrative leave after refusing such access to aides.And the head of the Federal Aviation Administration stepped down on Inauguration Day after Musk had criticized the agency’s oversight of rocket launches. Days later Trump had to rush to appoint a new head after a deadly passenger jet crash in Washington.A controversy over a raised-arm salute by Musk on the day of Trump’s inauguration only added to the controversy.- ‘Tiger in the petting zoo’ -Trump insisted Monday that “if there’s a conflict we won’t let him get near it” — but that did not calm critics.Democrats, who have been largely silent during Trump’s first shock-and-awe two weeks in power, began to mobilize against the latest Musk moves.”No one elected Elon Musk,” Senator Elizabeth Warren said.Democrats on the US House Ways and Means Committee were holding an emergency call partly devoted to the issue.They have bitterly criticized DOGE as an unconstitutional attempt to exert presidential power over funds approved by Congress.”It’s like letting a tiger into the petting zoo and hoping for the best,” Democratic Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said Monday.Speaking at a protest by USAID workers, Senator Chris Van Hollen said “this Elon Musk attempted takeover… will not stand.”Washington is however closely watching to see if the egos of two consummate showmen like Trump and Musk can survive in the same White House for long.Indeed Musk is reportedly not in the same building, after being denied a West Wing office for his staff, and getting premises instead in the Eisenhower Building, a separate part of the White House complex.

After the loss of more than 10,000 homes in last month’s Los Angeles fires, the region faces a daunting challenge to rebuild with a tight labor market, constrained construction supplies and strict regulations.”It’s going to be a very difficult rebuild process … and it’s going to take a long time,” said Jim Tobin, CEO of the National Association of Home Builders. “Fire is very unique: we’re talking about total loss.” Even when there is still a foundation or a chimney, “fire wreaks havoc with those materials and they all have to be knocked down,” said Tobin, describing what is often a more complete annihilation compared with a flood or hurricane.Before new work can begin, the old properties must be cleared of debris because of the risk of toxic waste, said Mary Comerio, professor of architecture at the University of California at Berkeley and a specialist in disaster recovery.In Paradise, California — where 18,000 structures were obliterated in fires in 2018, including 11,000 homes — this initial step of clearing out the old property took nine months, according to Colette Curtis, who directed the rebuilding for the city.Only 10 percent of Paradise’s homes and some 500 buildings overall survived the conflagration. The initial rebuilding permits were granted in 2019. There are about 400 buildings currently under construction in the city.”We expect our recovery will be another 10 years probably before we’re completely rebuilt,” Curtis said. Things could move faster in wealthy areas such as Malibu and Pacific Palisades, devastated in last month’s fires, if the homeowners don’t need to wait for funds from an insurer, or if they receive federal aid.- Burst of activity -Experts say construction permits for new homes could require nine to 12 months, with a finished home ready in three to five years.Public entities will also need to mobilize to clean and rebuild roadways, and build waist disposal and energy facilities, schools, hospitals and libraries.The federal government normally shoulders three-quarters of the costs, but then-president Joe Biden said it would cover 100 percent of the cost of the most recent Los Angeles fires.It is unclear whether President Donald Trump — who succeeded Biden on January 20 — will adhere to that promise, however.Republican Trump has repeatedly threatened to withhold funding from Democrat-led California — though after seeing the fire damage for himself last month, he vowed solidarity.California Governor Gavin Newsom has announced steps meant to accelerate the rebuilding, loosening some environmental standards and cracking down on price gouging.Supplies have remained tight for some construction materials. Procuring more could be further challenged if the Trump administration moves ahead with planned tariffs on China and Canada, which are major suppliers of key building materials.The construction industry is also expected to need to add some 439,000 workers in 2025 and 500,000 the year after.”For any major urban disaster, there will be a lot of internal migration of workers,” said Comerio. The surge of activity is “quite good for the economy,” she said. “All the construction is a very good short-term boom.”But the burst of demand can put stress on US home improvement stores such as Home Depot and Lowe’s.”It will be difficult for most retailers and suppliers to cope with the very elevated demand that is generated in a short period of time,” said Neil Saunders of GlobalData. “Tariffs, if applied, will add another layer of complication.”The new construction will also need to mitigate against future fire risk. At Paradise, where 85 people perished in the fires, local officials are strict about ensuring that walls, roofs and windows are fire resistant, that there is a five-foot zone of non-combustible vegetation near a home and that electric lines are buried, Curtis said.”Don’t give up hope,” she said. “It feels impossible right now but just keep going, it will get better.”

Anthony Davis paid tribute to Los Angeles in a farewell message to his adopted city on Monday following his shock trade to the Dallas Mavericks.In his first comments since news broke that the Los Angeles Lakers were trading him to Dallas in exchange for Slovenian superstar Luka Doncic, Davis described the deal as “business.”The Doncic-Davis trade is widely regarded as the most jaw-dropping deal in NBA history, a stunning coup conducted in utmost secrecy that no one saw coming.In a post on Instagram, Davis said he was pleased to have been able to deliver an NBA championship for the Lakers during the pandemic-disrupted 2020 season.”Six years ago, I came here with the vision to win a Championship, and I will never forget the moment we did!” the 31-year-old wrote.”The business of basketball is a business just like all other businesses… I am grateful to the city where my first ring came from, grew my family and friendships and I will always have a home here,” said Davis, who reportedly paid $31 million for a mansion in the exclusive Los Angeles neighborhood of Bel Air in 2021.”My family and I thank everyone who made this place home and we are still thinking of those that lost their homes in the fires,” he said, refering to deadly blazes that ravaged parts of the city last month.Los Angeles “will always have a special place in my heart,” he added. “Every great story has an exciting next chapter… Dallas — Here we come!”

A US district judge delivered a scorching opinion on Monday extending a temporary block on President Donald Trump’s freeze on federal funding for aid programs.Judge Loren AliKhan said the National Council of Nonprofits and others who brought the case had shown they would suffer “irreparable harm” if the federal aid freeze was allowed to take effect.Trump triggered nationwide confusion last week with an order from the White House’s Office of Management and Budget (OMB) ordering a freeze of trillions of dollars in federal loans, grants and other assistance.The move created an uproar and OMB issued a terse notification saying the freezing of aid order had been “rescinded.”White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt announced soon afterwards, however, that the spending freeze remained in place — and only the memo from the budget office was rescinded, a move the judge described as “disingenuous.”AliKhan blocked the spending freeze last week until the conclusion of a court hearing in Washington on Monday and she issued a ruling shortly afterwards extending the pause.”The declarations and evidence presented by Plaintiffs paint a stark picture of nationwide panic in the wake of the funding freeze,” she wrote in a 30-page opinion.”Organizations with every conceivable mission — healthcare, scientific research, emergency shelters, and more — were shut out of funding portals or denied critical resources beginning on January 28.”The judge, an appointee of Democratic President Joe Biden, said as much as $3 trillion in financial assistance was implicated by the freeze, “a breathtakingly large sum of money to suspend practically overnight.”OMB, she added, had “offered no rational explanation for why they needed to freeze all federal financial assistance — with less than twenty-four-hours’ notice.””If Defendants intend to conduct an exhaustive review of what programs should or should not be funded, such a review could be conducted without depriving millions of Americans access to vital resources,” she said.”Rather than taking a measured approach to identify purportedly wasteful spending, Defendants cut the fuel supply to a vast, complicated, nationwide machine — seemingly without any consideration for the consequences.”She also said the White House had overreached and “the appropriation of the government’s resources is reserved for Congress, not the Executive Branch.”Many organizations are still waiting for funds to be disbursed, she said.A district judge in Rhode Island last week also temporarily blocked the freeze on federal aid spending in a case brought by 22 states.

A truck crash left eggs all over a California freeway on Monday, sparking internet jokes about the high cost of the accident at a time of soaring egg prices.Highway patrol officers in Los Angeles scrambled to control traffic as it backed up following the pre-dawn accident.Aerial pictures showed the top of the big rig appeared to have been sheared off by an underpass, with sodden boxes of eggs spilling onto the road.The crash, which happened on the I-5, a major route that runs the length of the US West Coast, came with the price of eggs in supermarkets soaring.Internet users were quick to pounce.”Million dollar load” quipped rosiebsosodef on Instagram.”I can volunteer I’ll pick up all the ones that’s not broken and we can go from there” said momma_got_it.The cost of eggs has risen steeply in the United States in recent weeks, with supply crimped by bird flu outbreaks across the country.The wholesale price of a dozen eggs in California stood at over $8 at the end of January, with isolated reports of consumers paying as much as $15.Rising prices could be bad news for President Donald Trump, who came to office last month on a promise to tamp down grocery bills.