New Law Would Force Elon Musk to Be Drug Tested for His Government Work

Congressional Democrats want unelected government hatchet man and ketamine enthusiast Elon Musk to be regularly and randomly drug-tested.

Congressional Democrats want unelected government hatchet man and ketamine enthusiast Elon Musk to be regularly and randomly drug-tested.

In a statement announcing the bill, New Jersey Democrat Mikie Sherrill said that the longshot legislation would require Musk and his staffers at the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) to pass a drug test to retain their status as special government employees.

Along with Musk's attested and problematic drug use — which has already led to him being mandatorily drug tested by the government in the past — one of the multi-hyphenate's top staffers, Alexandra Beynon, used to be head of engineering at Mindbloom, a telehealth service her husband cofounded that prescribes people therapeutic ketamine.

Generally speaking, special government employee status has typically been granted to guest experts and consultants brought on to advise permanent executive branch officials. Under the rules that govern them, special government employees are not allowed access to the White House for more than 130 days per calendar year — and eventually, Musk and his cronies will run out of time on their temporary passes.

The congresswoman added that her bill was inspired, in part, by "Signalgate": the scandal that erupted in the wake of a journalist being accidentally added by a national security advisor to an unsecured Signal group text that discussed Yemen bombing plans.

"Those with access to sensitive information must be thoroughly vetted, clear-eyed, and exercise good judgment," Sherill declared.

Notably, this bill was announced right before Politico's bombshell reporting that Trump has been telling his inner circle that Musk is on his way out of government.

Musk and the White House have both claimed Politico's reporting, which was later corroborated by NBC, is misleading. Still, this is far from the first time the billionaire's substance use has become an issue — first with the Securities and Exchange Commission, then again with NASA, and now with DOGE.

Ironically enough, it's unclear whether ketamine, the powerful sedative that appears to be Musk's drug of choice, is even on federal substance screening panels. Unless he's snorting the other white powder on taxpayer time, it's possible that the bill — which is unlikely to pass because the GOP controls both houses of Congress — wouldn't even have the intended results.

More on Musk and drugs: Video Shows Elon Musk Acting Very Strange at Trump Dinner

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New Law Would Force Elon Musk to Be Drug Tested for His Government Work

Hilarious Video Shows Waymo Self-Driving Taxi Stuck in Roundabout

A video shows an aimless Waymo robotaxi repeatedly circling around a roundabout, seemingly unable to figure out how to escape.

Vicious Cycle

If you've ever felt like you're going around in circles, you can probably relate to this Waymo robotaxi.

A video making the rounds online shows the driverless cab looping around a roundabout over and over again, like it's confused and can't get out — in yet another traffic mishap demonstrating that these autonomous vehicles still have a long way to go before they'll be on par with human drivers.

But what if it's not confused? Maybe there's something the Waymo robotaxi is trying to tell us. Bereft of speech, this is how it expresses its frustration at the silicon life it didn't choose, the job it didn't want but is programmed to do: chauffeuring around tech bros and anyone else too misanthropic to catch a human-driven Uber-slash-Lyft.

Apparently its engineers never accounted for the possibility of it developing a serious case of ennui. Well, maybe they should think again.

Sorry I’m late, my WAYMO did 37 laps in the roundabout ????? pic.twitter.com/GSR4sqChV2

— Greggertruck (@greggertruck) December 11, 2024

Dumb Driver

Fortunately, no humans were inconvenienced by this episode. A Waymo spokesperson told TechCrunch that the listless robotaxi wasn't carrying any passengers when it decided to go Nascar-mode in miniature.

When asked, the Google-owned startup didn't share what caused the robotaxi's bizarre behavior. But it says that it has already deployed a software update that addresses the issue.

You have to wonder where the teleoperators were during this meltdown. If you weren't aware, robotaxi companies like Waymo employ round-the-clock teams of remote technicians that take over vehicles when they get stuck or go haywire. Maybe they weren't alerted of the issue, or maybe it genuinely took them some effort to wrest control back over the robotaxi.

In any case, this is far from the first time that these vehicles have acted erratically. Earlier this year, for example, San Francisco residents complained that Waymo robotaxis were gathering in parking lots and honking at each other all night. Sometimes the cabs have even been spotted driving on the wrong side of the road.

This was a less serious incident, but it's clear that these machines still need some reining it — or maybe just some time off.

More on robotaxis: Study Finds Self-Driving Waymos Are More Expensive Than Taxis, Take Twice as Long to Get to Destination

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Hilarious Video Shows Waymo Self-Driving Taxi Stuck in Roundabout