Elon Musk, the richest man globally and CEO of several billion-dollar companies, is facing increased scrutiny for his role as a special government employee under the Trump administration.
Musk, who is at the helm of SpaceX and Tesla, has been given the responsibility of leading the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), a new advisory group with the mission of dismantling federal agencies. This is happening while he is also receiving undisclosed ethics waivers. Musk has reportedly spent $250 million to aid in Donald Trump’s re-election campaign.
“But the real issue here is that he’s talking a big game about transparency, but he’s not being transparent himself,” commented Fox News host Jessica Tarlov in a broadcast. Tarlov stressed the need for Musk to provide financial disclosures like other government employees, given that his companies benefit from tens of billions in government contracts. She suggested that as the leader of DOGE, he should publicly disclose his financial records, as his tech ventures are funded with taxpayers’ money through federal contracts.
“And President Trump said yesterday, ‘Oh well, he doesn’t need to do it,’” Tarlov further added.
These developments have led Representative John B. Larson to propose the Ending DOGE Conflicts Act, a piece of legislation aimed at closing the loopholes that currently allow Musk to operate without independent oversight. The proposed bill would demand public financial disclosure and a review by the Office of Government Ethics to address concerns about Musk’s potential conflicts of interest.
During a White House press briefing on Wednesday, Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt stoked the debate by defending the administration’s decision to keep Musk’s financial disclosure forms and ethics waivers hidden from the public.
A New York Times investigation disclosed that more than 32 complaints are currently open against Musk’s businesses across 11 federal agencies. Many of these agencies are now in the crosshairs of DOGE’s restructuring efforts. The complaints cover a range of issues, including safety investigations into Tesla’s autonomous driving systems and labor practices at SpaceX.
Musk’s DOGE has rapidly expanded its influence, gaining access to a minimum of 15 federal agencies. Actions taken by DOGE include closing diversity and inclusion programs and, in some cases, trying to dismantle entire agencies. These actions sparked legal challenges from federal workers’ unions, leading to several court victories that temporarily stalled DOGE’s initiatives.
There are specific concerns about DOGE’s possible impact on current federal investigations into Tesla. These concerns include National Highway Traffic Safety Administration crash investigations into Tesla’s semi-autonomous vehicles and a Department of Justice criminal probe into potential misrepresentation of the vehicle’s self-driving features.
A group of senators, including Elizabeth Warren, Jamie Raskin, Jeff Merkley, and Adam Schiff, has called on Musk to release his financial disclosures voluntarily. The lawmakers suggest that self-policing of conflicts of interest is inadequate given Musk’s expansive business interests in federal contracts and his role in restructuring government agencies.
Questions have also arisen about the composition and qualifications of the DOGE team. An investigation revealed that one team member, 19-year-old Edward Coristine, was previously fired from a cybersecurity internship for disclosing confidential information. Coristine, who currently has access to sensitive government data, has established multiple companies, including Tesla.Sexy LLC, which controls at least two domains registered in Russia, one of which is active.
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has become a target of DOGE’s efforts, coinciding with the agency’s plans to regulate Musk’s mobile payment service on X. This move against an agency likely to oversee Musk’s business interests has amplified calls for more transparency and oversight of potential conflicts of interest.