VIDEO: Oversight Democrats Launched 5 NEW Investigations This Week into Musk’s Rampant Conflicts of Interest

April 11, 2025

Washington, D.C. (April 11, 2025)—This week, Rep. Gerald E. Connolly, Ranking Member of the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform; Rep. Shontel Brown, Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Cybersecurity, Information Technology, and Government Innovation; Rep. Maxwell Alejandro Frost, Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Economic Growth, Energy Policy, and Regulatory Affairs; Rep. Jasmine Crockett, Vice Ranking Member of the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform; Rep. Stephen F. Lynch; and Rep. Emily Randall sent letters launching five new investigations into Special Government Employee (SGE) Elon Musk’s glaring conflicts of interest at the White House, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), U.S. Department of Commerce (Commerce), the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD), and the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT).

WATCH Oversight Democrats Highlight These FIVE NEW Investigations

As of February 2025, Mr. Musk and his companies have received a combined total of at least $38 billion in contracts, loans, subsidies, and/or tax credits from the federal government and state governments. In fact, Mr. Musk’s businesses have been more reliant on government funds than many of his competitors.

These are the investigations Committee Democrats launched this week:

On Monday, Ranking Members Brown and Connolly called on the White House and the General Services Administration (GSA) for documents and information as to how GSA is ensuring that any new usage of Starlink technologies is secure and will not provide financial benefits or special access to Elon Musk in violation of federal ethics rules.

That same day, Ranking Members Frost and Connolly launched an investigation into Elon Musk’s rampant conflicts of interest at NASA, where his space exploration company, SpaceX, has received more than $15 billion in funding.

On Tuesday, Vice Ranking Member Crockett and Ranking Member Connolly demanded answers from Commerce as to how it is ensuring Elon Musk is not exploiting the department to enrich himself. Since 2003, SpaceX has benefitted from at least $3.6 million in total taxpayer-funded benefits from Commerce.
On Wednesday, Rep. Lynch and Ranking Member Connolly wrote to DOD requesting compliance with the Committee’s investigative efforts to understand how DOD is working to guarantee Elon Musk is not gaining from DOGE’s involvement in the department, citing Musk’s $9.5 billion in defense contracts. In addition, Rep. Lynch introduced a Resolution of Inquiry to investigate the Trump Administration’s illegal use of unsanctioned, insecure communications services and platforms for national security duties.

On Thursday, Rep. Emily Randall and Ranking Member Connolly sent a letter to DOT asking for details on how it is working to safeguard from potential efforts from Elon Musk to gain financially from the department. According to reporting, while considering major cuts to the Federal Aviation Administration, Mr. Musk tried to sabotage a $2.4 billion communications contract that the agency had previously awarded to Verizon in favor of his Starlink company.

In the News

###

Subcommittees

119th Congress

Issues: Administration Ethics and Transparency Federal Workforce