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3471A new report, released by Senate Democrats on April 27, accuses Elon Musk of leveraging his control of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) to weaken oversight and shut down investigations into Tesla, SpaceX, Neuralink, The Boring Company, and xAI.
According to the memo, Musk’s firms were facing at least 65 federal regulatory or enforcement actions as of Jan. 20, Inauguration Day.
The Senate subcommittee estimates those actions carried a potential liability of $2.37 billion.
“The through line connecting many of Mr. Musk’s decisions appears to be self-enrichment and avoiding what he perceives as obstacles to advancing his interests,” the memo says.
“Mr. Musk’s position may allow him to evade oversight, derail investigations, and make litigation disappear whenever he so chooses—on his terms and at his command.”
DOGE’s Reach and Influence
President Donald Trump appointed Musk to lead DOGE shortly after taking office.
The entity has aggressively slashed budgets, canceled grants and contracts, and cut federal staff, including inspectors general and regulators tied to ongoing probes of Musk’s companies.
DOGE operates from within the Executive Office of the President but is not formally authorized by Congress.
The Senate report claims Musk has made no attempt to separate his public role from his private empire.
Instead, he has reportedly used his influence to install allies across key agencies and access sensitive federal data.
Billions in Liability Potentially Erased
Among the key liabilities potentially neutralized:
- $1.19 billion from a Department of Justice investigation into allegedly false statements about Tesla’s Autopilot and Full Self-Driving technology.
- $281 million for Neuralink’s alleged misrepresentations about the safety of its brain implants.
- $46.1 million related to a discrimination case against SpaceX that was dropped days after Trump took office.
- $633,009 in FAA penalties over rocket launch violations.
- $713,114 in OSHA fines across Musk-owned firms.
In one example in the memo, Musk reportedly accessed the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s systems, then posted “CFPB RIP” with a gravestone emoji.
That same day, the agency’s X account was deleted.
White House Pushback and Senate Demands
The White House has denied any wrongdoing.
“Any assertion otherwise is completely false and defamatory.”
Communications director Steven Cheung dismissed the Senate’s concerns, saying Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), who is leading the inquiry, is “suffering from a debilitating and uncurable case of Trump Derangement Syndrome.”
Despite multiple requests, the Trump administration has not provided documents detailing Musk’s compliance with ethics or conflict-of-interest laws.
Musk has not filed a financial disclosure or recused himself from decisions involving his companies.
“The breathtaking scope and scale of benefits Mr. Musk is gaining from his present position may never be known, and that is by design,” the memo says. “The silence is strategic, and it is dangerous.”
Next Steps in the Investigation
Blumenthal has sent letters to all five Musk-led companies requesting information about ongoing or past investigations and their internal handling of conflicts related to DOGE. Responses are due by May 11.
If these claims hold up under deeper scrutiny, Musk’s role may represent one of the most serious conflicts of interest in modern U.S. political history.
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