From Delco to DOGE

Crowds of people lined up around Delaware County’s Ridley High School to see Elon Musk campaign for President Donald Trump last year as the billionaire dished out millions to elect Trump in Pennsylvania. In Butler, he jumped for joy on Trump’s campaign rally stage. And after Trump emerged victorious from the 2024 election, securing Pennsylvania and the White House, it was Musk who received an outpouring of credit for his ground-game efforts in the Keystone State.

But as Musk’s slash-and-burn style of reducing the size of the federal government has unfolded from his powerful position in Washington, the crowds now gathering in Pennsylvania, the state he helped win, are protesting against him — and Democrats see an opening, even as Musk’s power is waning.

Democratic lawmakers in town halls have railed against cuts carried out by Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency, and a new, Pennsylvania-based Democratic super PAC launched Tuesday is focused almost unilaterally on calling Musk out in stark terms and connecting politically vulnerable Republicans to the billionaire.

“He is everything that is currently wrong with politics,” said Jack Inacker, a Democratic strategist who launched FUBAR PAC with a digital video campaign brashly pointing to Musk’s family history of wealth, labeling him a “ketamine-snorting nepo baby.”

Musk, removed from the high-energy Pennsylvania campaign tour and the excitement over the 2024 election, is now one of the world’s most powerful and divisive figures.

His future in Trump’s inner circle is becoming increasingly uncertain. Reports indicate Musk plans to step back from DOGE in the coming weeks as his Tesla company flails, though the tech billionaire has also insinuated he is not leaving his role as a “special government employee” until the end of Trump’s term in 2029. Meanwhile, criticism abounds over the agency’s federal cuts and how much he has actually saved the government.

Musk, the White House, and Musk’s America PAC have not responded to requests for comment on Musk’s role in Pennsylvania politics and the criticism the billionaire has received there.

In the last three months, Musk has emerged as a rallying figure for Pennsylvania Democrats, as those opposed to his steep governmental cuts look for ways to win back Republican seats in the midterms.

“The richest man in the world firing federal workers? That is hypocrisy at the most,” said Jocelyn Damita, on her way to her sixth Musk-specific protest in Philadelphia last month.

Most Republicans in the state, meanwhile, continue to deflect criticism, urge patience, and applaud Musk’s attempts to cut wasteful spending.

“Look, I appreciate what he’s trying to do, you know, he’s serving as an auditor,” U.S. Rep. Dan Meuser, a Republican from Luzerne County, said of Musk.

When a gunman fired shots into the crowd at Trump’s rally at the Butler Farm Show Grounds in July, Trump triumphantly raised his fist into the air after a bullet grazed his ear, surviving an assassination attempt and stoking new momentum for his campaign. But the moment also marked the beginning of a consequential relationship between Trump and Musk, the Tesla and SpaceX CEO.

Soon after the shooting, Musk went public with his endorsement of Trump on X, his social media platform. In August, Musk hosted an X Spaces conversation with Trump and said he admired Trump’s “strength under fire” during the shooting. The platform X, which Musk bought in 2022 as Twitter, would go on to become a crucial platform for Trump allies’ talking points and misinformation about the 2024 election and immigrant communities.

When Trump returned to Butler for another rally in October, Musk was right by his side, clad in “dark MAGA” attire, telling the crowd of supporters to “Fight, fight, fight, vote, vote, vote.”

Musk — who reportedly created a “war room” in Pittsburgh — began to ramp up his investment in Trump’s candidacy with an intense focus on delivering the swing state of Pennsylvania. His America PAC, established months prior, was the driving force behind Musk’s attempts to bring his financial assets to the 2024 election: robo texts, canvassing operations (paying workers $30 an hour), and, of course, the cash prizes.

He touted payments to swing state voters — including a $100 “special offer” for Pennsylvania voters — who signed or referred a voter to the super PAC’s First and Second Amendment petition. (The checks would later cause some confusion, as some Pennsylvanians said they received $100 without asking for it, while others said they never were paid by Musk at all.)

Perhaps the most controversial was Musk’s $1 million randomized sweepstakes for signatories of the petition, which garnered unsuccessful legal challenges, including one brought by Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner.

But Musk was not just campaigning with his wallet in Pennsylvania. He held five America PAC-sponsored town halls throughout the commonwealth. His first on Oct. 17 was in Delaware County, where Trump voters and tech-obsessed folks alike tucked into Ridley High School’s auditorium waiting for the richest man in the world to appear onstage to discuss crime and immigration — upsetting some teachers along the way.

John Canavan of Newtown Square was one of many Pennsylvanians who lined up outside Ridley High on that sunny October afternoon waiting to see Musk. Months later, Canavan told The Inquirer in an interview that he is a fan of DOGE’s shake-ups — even as some could affect his own family. He said his son works for a university system that has been on the receiving end of federal cuts.

“I think for the better, the greater good, it’s a way to go through and have an enema for the country,” Canavan said of DOGE.

Musk tried the Pennsylvania formula again in Wisconsin for that state’s April 1 Supreme Court election, holding a town hall in support of the conservative candidate and offering up $1 million checks. But things were different as outrage escalated over Musk-driven federal cuts, and so was the outcome: The liberal candidate prevailed, with Democrats pointing to the win as a bellwether for the 2026 midterms.

Josh Novotney, a GOP lobbyist and strategist in Pennsylvania, said despite the Wisconsin loss — which he attributes to the Midwestern battleground being a few steps behind Pennsylvania in its rightward shift — he believes there is still a place for Musk to utilize his name, massive financial resources, and “star power” in future swing state elections to drive turnout.

And if Musk had been more heavily involved in Pennsylvania’s Senate special election in Lancaster last month, where Democrats flipped a seat in a county where Trump had won by 15 points, Novotney said he believes “it would have a good, maybe possibly a better, outcome.”

Musk’s work on the Lancaster County race was confined to reaction posts on X. Days before the special election, he fired off a “!!” on X in support of the Republican candidate. When the results were not going in the GOP’s favor, he posted simply: “Damn.”

For Pennsylvania Republicans in Congress, Musk is someone they have both praised and then had to answer for over the last three months.

“If you don’t vote in line with Elon Musk and the administration, you might be primaried. What are you gonna do?” a caller named Richard from Hazleton asked U.S. Rep. Rob Bresnahan (R., Pa.) at a tele-town hall last month. “Who are you going to represent? Elon Musk, or the people in your district that put you in?”

Bresnahan did not mention Musk in his answer but assured the caller he represents his constituents.

As news stories document cuts to critical programs or accidental reductions since reversed, Republicans have taken a largely defensive tone on Musk and DOGE, while at times trying to show some distance from the billionaire.

It has become an increasingly difficult balance to strike. Musk’s grip on federal agencies appears to be waning — and so has support for his work. A New York Times poll out this week showed as many as 60% of respondents expressing negative sentiments about DOGE and a similar number concerned about the agency’s access to government data. Views on Musk’s personal favorability have also plummeted, from a mostly positive approval rating among voters who had heard of him four years ago to a negative one today.

“We saw lots of examples where the taxpayer money is being carelessly spent; now, with that said, when you make big changes like this, and that’s what DOGE is trying to do, you’re going to make mistakes,” Sen. Dave McCormick (R., Pa.) said during a tele-town hall in late March. “There needs to be a mechanism where if decisions are made prematurely, or have consequences that weren’t well considered, that there’s a feedback loop to fix those quickly.”

Despite his focus on Pennsylvania in 2024, Musk has not appeared to maintain close relationships with lawmakers and donors here as he has moved into the White House.

He doesn’t need to, said Jim Worthington, owner of Bucks County’s Newtown Athletic Club. “He comes in, he does his thing, and he left.”

Meuser said he thinks the complaints about DOGE are not representative of most voters, who want the government to work more efficiently. “It’s become controversial. But on the same note, is it controversial, you know, minimizing the IRS by 4,000 employees?” asked Meuser, who has said he is considering a run for Pennsylvania governor in 2026. “Meanwhile, it has 80,000? Except for ABC, NBC, and CBS, and maybe CNN, I don’t see anybody else crying about it.”

U.S. Rep. Mike Kelly, a Republican who represents Butler County, similarly dismissed concerns as overblown.

“I don’t need five people to come in and do the job of one person, right? That’s why we’re $36 trillion in the red, and nobody’s worried about the debt — and that’s what’s going to consume us. It’s not DOGE,” Kelly said between votes in Washington earlier this month.

On an overcast Saturday morning last month, Ann Dixon, 62, waited near 30th Street Station for the bus to take her to a Tesla dealership in Devon. Dixon, who lives in West Philadelphia and works in horticulture, was readying for her third Musk protest of the year.

“I’m here because Elon Musk has staged a coup. The only thing that he wants is money and power. So I’m here to take down Tesla stock,” she said.

Trump has been a political figure to fight against for nearly a decade, but Musk, an unelected adviser and the richest man in the world, has brought in a new wave of opposition.

Claudia Crane, a 73-year-old retired nurse from Fairmount protesting the tech billionaire, said she wants people to “wake up and realize that our democracy is at risk.”

That argument extends to Democratic leadership, who are looking to reorganize after sweeping losses in 2024 and eager to run against Musk — and, by extension, Trump — by connecting his cuts to real impacts on people.

“I think we’re absolutely looking forward to continue to make the case” against Musk, said State Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta (D., Philadelphia), who is also a vice chair of the Democratic National Committee. “… There’s nothing efficient about chaos, and we don’t need billionaires taking advantage of our government.”

Sean Coit, a Democratic strategist, said he would “love to have Pennsylvania Republicans explain” why Musk and DOGE have made cuts to crucial research funding and fired federal workers, as well as the commission’s questionable privacy practices.

“He’s already deeply unpopular in the polls, but he’s also a perfect avatar for the incompetence, heartlessness, and chaos that has defined the Trump administration’s first few months,” Coit said.

Inacker, a Fishtown resident who started the anti-Musk PAC, is a veteran who did outreach to Pennsylvania veterans and their families for Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign. The goal of the PAC, he said, is to invest $1.3 million against three incumbent Republicans in the state by tying them to Musk and DOGE.

“He’s used his leverage to take apart the federal government through DOGE in ways that are really hurting people.”

But whether Democrats will still focus on Musk come the 2026 midterms remains an open question. The billionaire’s place in Trump’s circle of influence is shifting as he reportedly prepares to refocus on Tesla, where earnings have plummeted. He has reportedly gotten into scuffles with Trump cabinet members, DOGE has fallen far short of its goals for cutting spending, and Musk’s demands for federal workers to report five things they did that week have fizzled out.

It’s unclear what Musk’s political life will look like going forward, or whether it will involve investing in GOP candidates in the high-stakes midterms and other special elections. Following the 2024 election, Musk pledged that America PAC would “keep grinding” for Republicans in preparation for these contests nationwide.

The effort, he said then, would not go “dormant.”