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Sen. Elizabeth Warren is pushing President-elect Donald Trump to outline and enforce ethics rules on Elon Musk, a key member of his transition team who has been tapped to lead a group scrutinizing the same federal agencies that regulate his companies.
“Putting Mr. Musk in a position to influence billions of dollars of government contracts and regulatory enforcement without a stringent conflict of interest agreement in place is an invitation for corruption on a scale not seen in our lifetimes,” the Democratic senator wrote in a letter to Trump.
Warren is referring to the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), which Musk will be leading alongside former Roivant CEO Vivek Ramswamy. It’s not actually a government department but rather an outside group that plans to work with congressional officials and the White House to recommend ways to reduce federal spending.
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DOGE plans to take aim at remote work for federal employees, non-government organizations, and regulations Musk and his allies deem burdensome. Some agencies could even be on the chopping block for DOGE, according to Musk and Ramaswamy. All in all, Musk wants to slash some $2 trillion in spending.
Slashing government waste is a relatively popular idea, given that every president since Bill Clinton has studied it. But Musk’s oversight presents a ripe opportunity for potential conflicts of interest, according to Warren.
“Mr. Musk is no ordinary citizen,” she wrote, adding that his “substantial private interests present a massive conflict of interest with the role he has taken on as your ‘unofficial co-president.’”
Musk is the CEO of Tesla (TSLA+3.66%) and SpaceX, the owner of the social media network X, and the founder of Neuralink, xAI, and The Boring Co. His companies have collectively received billions of dollars in government contracts and frequently come into conflict with regulators. He’s threatened to sue the Federal Aviation Administration over delays with SpaceX’s Starship and is currently attempting to dismantle the National Labor Relations Board.
Last week, Musk published a letter from his lawyer to the Securities and Exchange Commission after it reopened an investigation into Neuralink and issued a 48-hour settlement deadline over a probe into his purchase of X, then named Twitter. In statements posted on X, Musk called the SEC a “weaponized institution doing political dirty work.”
Since the election, Musk’s wealth has ballooned, with Forbes estimating his net worth as $453 billion, as Tesla stock has surged thanks to his relationship with Trump. The president-elect’s team has reportedly discussed a number of actions that would benefit Musk, including rolling back car-crash reporting rules Tesla opposed.
The entrepreneur has become an almost constant presence in Trump’s orbit since the 2024 election, joining calls and meetings with major CEOs and world leaders, while several of his allies have been chosen for roles in Trump’s future administration.
“I don’t think so,” Trump told Time magazine when asked whether Musk has a potential conflict of interest, adding that Musk puts the country “long before his company.”
“I mean, he’s in a lot of companies, but he really is, and I’ve seen it. He considers this to be his most important project, and he wanted to do it,” Trump said.
Warren has requested that Trump’s team provide answers to a number of questions she posed by December 23. That includes whether Musk has signed the transition team’s ethics agreement and complied with that agreement, what ethical standards will apply to Musk as co-chair of DOGE, and whether he will recuse himself from matters impacting any company he owns or has a “substantial” investment in.
This isn’t Warren’s first tangle with Musk. Earlier this year, she accused Tesla’s board of directors of “neglecting its duty” and said the Senate should investigate Musk’s alleged role in preventing a Ukrainian drone from attacking Russia. Since 2021, Musk has called Warren “Senator Karen” while she has repeatedly called for inquiries into his dealings and behavior.
