Is everyone else missing something, or am I missing something?

I have seen two recent discussions framed by Democrats / Republicans / pundits that to me make absolutely no sense with what's goin on. Please tell me if I'm the crazy one...

Democrats talking about legislation to stop Musk.

I just saw the discussion between Sam Stein and Congressman Maxwell Frost. Frost at least seems to have woken up and is trying to do something - that's good - but during the conversation he talked about trying to pass new legislation to stop Musk. I have seen a tweet by Chuck Schumer talking about the same thing. This to me makes absolutely no sense for the following reasons...

  1. Isn't what Musk is doing already illegal? Why are new laws required?

  2. If they manage to get a few Republicans to get a bill over the line in congress, won't Trump just veto it?

  3. Even if a federal law is passed, who is going to enforce it? The top people in the DoJ are backing Musk.

What am I not getting? Why is talk of new legislation not just a waste of time that completely misses what is actually going on here?

The reason for Musk taking a hatchet to various government departments is to pay for the Trump tax cuts.

I have seen this given as a justification, though mostly by pundits (including Bulwark pundits). It is claimed that there are at least some Republicans that are nodding along with Musk's dismantling of government because the cost cutting will be used to balance the tax cuts.

But wouldn't it be the case that, as far as the laws of congress is concerned, the money Musk is just stopping is still actually in the budget? Even though the building is closed, won't the money for USAID still be in the congressional budget unless they explicitly remove it in the next budget?

Congress could pass legislation to abolish USAID or the Department of Education any time they want - that is how the system is supposed to work. I don't see how congress could account for the savings in their budget, without having to codify abolishing these departments in the bill themselves.

If this is the supposed justification, I don't see what Musk shuttering these departments actually achieves. Congress would still have to pass the same bill at some point eventually if they want it to stick.

As this justification makes no sense to me, I think anyone thinking or hoping that's what's going on is delusional (both pundits and any republicans actually thinking like this). It makes more sense to me that Musk is doing what he's doing because this administration no longer cares about congress. At all. They are working in a post-legislation world. There is no pretext, there is no grand plan to work with congress later. They are just doing stuff because they see themselves as the only branch of government. Trump decides the law and Musk carries it out - that's it. If Trump decides in 2 months that the top bracket income tax rate needs to be reduced to 20%, and that doesn't make it through congress, he will just instruct IRS agents to only collect that amount anyway. Musk's band of hackers will then monitor IRS agent's computers - any that don't comply will get hauled out the building by DHS officials.

What am I missing?