Elon Musk claims that DOGE is winding all the way down to its finish, however that gained’t cease Democrats from investigating the billionaire and his many conflicts of curiosity, particularly involving NASA.
Reps. Gerry Connolly (D-VA) and Maxwell Frost wrote to the NASA Normal Counsel:
We write with important issues about Elon Musk’s clear conflicts of curiosity on the Nationwide Aeronautics and House Administration (NASA). In an unprecedented association, President Donald Trump has bestowed expansive and illegal authority to Mr. Musk, an unelected billionaire. Mr. Musk is redirecting billions of taxpayer {dollars} to fund his personal monetary pursuits whereas slashing federal staff, applications, and companies on which all People rely. Mr. Musk additionally stays answerable for a sprawling non-public sector enterprise empire that continues to depend on billions of {dollars} in authorities funding and has been charged with managing his personal conflicts of curiosity.
The Trump Administration has didn’t make public Mr. Musk’s monetary disclosure filings, hiding the true extent of his conflicts from the general public. We demand paperwork and knowledge to carry such conflicts to mild, in addition to fast motion to deal with this corrupt association that threatens accountable, democratic governance. As of February 2025, Mr. Musk and his firms have obtained a mixed whole of a minimum of $38 billion in contracts, loans, subsidies, and tax credit from the federal authorities and state governments. Actually, Mr. Musk’s companies have been extra reliant on authorities funds than lots of his opponents.
Mr. Musk’s companies, which span varied industries together with the transportation, well being, telecommunications, and protection sectors, are additionally topic to the regulatory jurisdiction of quite a few federal companies, together with the Division of Justice and the Dpartment of Transportation, and a number of other of his firms are presently below federal investigation for security, labor, or different critical violations. Mr. Musk continues to revenue from taxpayer {dollars} and now finds himself answerable for figuring out which federal contracts the federal government will hold and which can be minimize—an association that runs afoul of the legislation.
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At NASA, the place Mr. Musk has each benefited from important contracts and has the potential to obtain huge quantities of latest enterprise, his defiance of recusal legal guidelines and management of operations straight profit his companies. The identified conflicts of curiosity introduced by this association … are unlawful and have to be addressed instantly.
Musk appears to have two objectives throughout the federal authorities. First, he seems to need to attempt to make all the investigations into his firms go away whereas additionally raiding the treasury to direct authorities funding to himself and his firms.
What Musk is doing is illegitimate, and the Democratic investigations are a style of what’s to come back if the Democratic Get together wins again the Home majority.
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