On June 3, Senator Elizabeth Warren's office released a report detailing Elon Musk's '130 days' experience as CEO of DOGE during the Trump administration. The report accused the billionaire of using his government position to profit himself and his businesses.
A report from the Massachusetts Democratic Office reveals that Musk and his representatives are implicated in dozens of suspicious activities, raising questions of corruption, ethics, and conflicts of interest. Donald Trump's presidency has brought substantial rewards to Musk, whose net worth has increased by over $100 billion since Election Day. Before Trump took office, his companies faced at least $2.37 billion in potential liabilities due to pending law enforcement actions. Today, many enforcement actions have either been shelved or dismissed.
Reports also indicate that Musk maintained extensive financial conflicts of interest by owning or holding shares in several private and publicly traded companies while serving as a 'special government employee' in the White House and leading the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), including Tesla, SpaceX, X, xAI, Boring Company, and Neuralink.
Musk violated 'norms' and 'statutory prohibitions'
Federal agencies under the Trump administration—perhaps influenced by
In seeking support, Musk has signed or explored new contracts with his companies and turned to these companies for services. Federal agencies have also ceased investigations into Musk's companies, refused to enforce regulatory provisions against them, or waived seemingly reasonable penalties. Under the influence of DOGE, the Trump administration paralyzed several agencies regulating Musk's companies, cut their staff, disrupted their operations, and installed DOGE employees loyal to the Tesla boss.
The report states that SpaceX has signed contracts worth over $7 billion with the Department of Defense. Meanwhile, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) is considering signing a contract to apply Starlink technology to surveillance towers for monitoring the border. Reports also indicate that the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is considering canceling a $2.4 billion contract with Verizon to instead give it to SpaceX for building communication infrastructure.
Reports indicate that regulators have taken no public action regarding investigations related to this billionaire investor in over 40 federal agency cases for months, if not longer. Despite concerns that Musk has had multiple contacts with senior Russian officials, including Vladimir Putin, the U.S. Air Force even refused to review whether SpaceX had its contractor status suspended or revoked.
"Although Musk has called for 'maximum transparency' from the government, he has failed to disclose key information regarding his potential conflicts of interest to the American people... Musk has used his influence to intervene in political and judicial processes to protect his political and economic interests."
– Office of Senator Elizabeth Warren
During his tenure as head of DOGE, Musk gained special access to sensitive government meetings, classified information, and proprietary government data that could benefit his companies. Additionally, he appeared to redirect foreign aid and immigration policy toward his 'personal narrow interests' rather than the public interest.
Sonnenfeld stated that Musk is overly reliant on federal funding.
Professor Jeffrey Sonnenfeld of Yale School of Management stated that not all entrepreneurs on the scale of Musk rely on federal government funding like he does—certainly not Nvidia, Microsoft, Amazon, or Meta. A former executive familiar with Tesla's financial situation revealed that Tesla would not have survived without the $465 million loan provided by the Department of Energy in 2010. This executive spoke on condition of anonymity due to fears of retaliation.
The anonymous source emphasized that this was a critical loan at a crucial time. NASA spokesperson Cheryl Warner also stated that the agency has invested over $15 billion in SpaceX for its numerous space projects.
Senator Jeanne Shaheen urged Trump in May to require Musk and the special government employees of his DOGE project to prove before leaving office that they would not use any non-public government data obtained for personal gain. Shaheen (D-N.H.) noted that this Tesla CEO and DOGE employees have 'unprecedented' access to 'a vast amount of the most sensitive U.S. government data' from various federal agencies.
However, White House spokesperson Harrison Fields stated that Musk's business interests would not conflict with his work at DOGE. He also added that any contracts related to Musk's companies would adhere to all government ethics standards regarding potential conflicts of interest.
