Both Republicans and Democrats have a vested interest in exaggerating the power of Elon Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency. Such bipartisanship, if you can call it that, is rare.

For Democrats, Musk is a literal Nazi operating a “shadow government” with complete control over every payment the federal government makes and access to every bit of data submitted to the IRS. For a party disliked by a record-high percentage of voters, Musk is an ideal target to cast as a villain setting out to dismantle the federal government to enrich himself.