Elon Musk’s DOGE ties could get his companies out of $2 billion in potential liability

Elon Musk’s expansive portfolio of companies could debar much than $2.37 cardinal successful imaginable ineligible liability owed to his unprecedented power implicit the US government, a caller Senate study finds.

The fig comes from a study assembled by Democratic unit for the Senate Homeland Security imperishable subcommittee connected investigations (PSI) probing the interaction of Musk’s closeness with President Donald Trump and instauration of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) connected his fiscal interests. The unit endeavored to quantify “the fiscal interaction of President Trump’s delegation of powerfulness connected imaginable liabilities and scrutiny facing Mr. Musk and his companies.” To bash so, it calculated the ineligible vulnerability The Boring Company, Neuralink, SpaceX, Tesla, and xAI could look arsenic a effect of national investigations, litigation, oregon regulatory actions pending arsenic of Trump’s inauguration. The unit called the fig “a credible, blimpish estimate.” 

The subcommittee recovered that Musk and his companies were taxable to 65 “actual oregon potential” actions crossed 11 agencies arsenic of Inauguration Day, and said they were capable to estimation imaginable fiscal liability for 40 of those. That includes up to $1.19 cardinal for Tesla’s allegedly misleading statements astir its self-driving features, $281 cardinal for Neuralink’s allegedly misleading representations astir its risks, and much than $630,000 successful fines for SpaceX allegedly evading rocket motorboat requirements, the Democratic unit claims. Many of the agencies that modulate Musk’s companies have been targets of cuts by DOGE. 

Alongside the report, PSI Ranking Member Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) sent letters to the 5 companies asking them to respond by May 11th astir their existent national investigations and litigation, and what steps they’ve taken to support Musk’s enactment with the authorities from influencing those proceedings. He besides asks the companies to sphere related communications betwixt institution employees and national authorities officials, which could go applicable successful aboriginal probes. While the subcommittee has subpoena powers, the Democratic number would request enactment from the Republican seat to workout them against Musk’s companies.

“Mr. Musk’s presumption whitethorn let him to evade oversight, derail investigations, and marque litigation vanish whenever helium truthful chooses—on his presumption and astatine his command,” the study says, pointing to the erstwhile Federal Aviation Administration leader’s determination to measurement down good earlier the extremity of his word aft clashing with Musk, whose SpaceX is regulated by the agency. 

Democratic unit says adjacent the $2.37 cardinal fig “drastically understates the existent payment Mr. Musk whitethorn summation from ineligible hazard avoidance unsocial arsenic a effect of his presumption successful government.” That’s not lone due to the fact that of the different 25 pending actions it hasn’t been capable to quantify, but besides due to the fact that Musk’s companies could debar millions oregon billions of dollars much successful ineligible fees and different spending they mightiness incur if ordered to alteration their labour oregon different concern practices. Nor does it see “many billions of dollars” Musk could marque done caller authorities contracts oregon “the competitory vantage they whitethorn summation by collecting quality connected competitors,” they write.

On apical of each that, Musk volition prevention wealth from each the investigations that whitethorn ne'er hap nether a Trump administration, the unit writes successful its letters to Musk’s companies. “​​The cases ne'er filed, investigations softly neglected, and imaginable witnesses silenced volition beryllium harder if not intolerable to observe until Congress is provided with the accusation it needs.”