On November 19, 2024, US President-elect Donald Trump walked with Elon Musk before attending the launch ceremony of the sixth test flight of the SpaceX Starship rocket in Brownsville, Texas, USA.
Brandon Bell | via Reuters
senator Elizabeth Warren Asked Donald TrumpThe transition team held Musk Being held to the same ethical standards as other transition members has put scrutiny on an unusually powerful presidential adviser into focus.
billionaire ceo Tesla The owner of rocket company SpaceX and social media platform X has grown increasingly close to Republican Trump since he endorsed him in July. Musk spent more than $250 million to help elect Trump and also has interests in cryptocurrency and other businesses.
“Mr. Musk’s numerous private interests present a significant conflict of interest with his role as ‘unofficial co-president,'” Warren said in a letter to the Trump transition team made public by her office on Tuesday. “The American public has no way of knowing whether the advice he whispered to you in secret was good for the country or simply good for his own bottom line.”
Warren pointed out that Musk serves as co-chairman of the newly formed Trump advisory agency “Government Effectiveness”, which is not part of the US government, which means he is not a government employee, “but the conflict he faces is huge and he clearly needs to Adhere to similar ethical standards.
The Trump transition team had no immediate comment.
Asked about potential conflicts with Musk, Trump said in an interview with Time magazine published on December 12: “I think Elon puts country before company.”
Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., speaks to Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines and Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines during a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on “Global Threats” in the Dirksen Building on Thursday, May Lt. Gen. Scott D. Berrier, director of the Defense Intelligence Agency, questioned April 2023.
Tom Williams | Chongqing Roll Call Company | Getty Images
Danielle Brian, executive director of the Government Oversight Project, told Reuters that past presidents often recruited industrialists to serve on efficiency committees.
Bryan said a key difference in this case is that the industries Musk invests in are still in their early stages, meaning decisions made by Trump-appointed regulators could change their industries and potentially make Musk’s particular companies At an advantage.
Trump’s transition team issued an ethics pledge in November pledging that members “will avoid actual and apparent conflicts of interest” and “shall not engage in any specific transition matters that, to their knowledge, may be in direct conflict with their financial interests.” ..or other individuals or organizations with whom they have a business or close personal relationship.
Musk’s task force aims to overhaul the U.S. government, which spent $6.8 trillion in the latest fiscal year and has threatened to lay off thousands of government workers.
Reuters reported last week that, among other regulatory changes, the Trump transition team wants the incoming administration to drop crash reporting requirements that Musk’s electric car company Tesla opposes.
Walter Shaub, the former director of the Office of Government Ethics, told Reuters he believed Musk’s role could compromise national security and public safety. OGE’s mission is to oversee ethical standards in the executive branch.
After clashing with the first Trump administration, Schaub resigned in July 2017, months before his term was supposed to end. “Taxpayers should lament that their money serves Musk’s interests rather than the interests of the American people,” he said.
