Sign up for the Today newsletter
Get everything you need to know to start your day, delivered right to your inbox every morning.
Warren wants answers from Trump about Musk’s ‘conflicts of interest,’ ethic standards as head of DOGE
Senator Elizabeth Warren, a progressive Democrat, called Musk “no ordinary citizen” in a letter sent to Trump Monday.
Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren is asking what roles Elon Musk plays as President-Elect Donald Trump prepares to take his place back in the Oval Office.
Warren, a progressive Democrat, called Musk “no ordinary citizen” in a letter sent to Trump Monday. Musk is the billionaire CEO of companies including Tesla and SpaceX, which “have significant interests before the federal government,” Warren warns.
Musk, along with former Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, will co-chair the Department of Government Efficiency, which is not an official government entity. Musk has been close to Trump throughout the campaign and since the election, at one point calling himself “first buddy.”
Advertisement:
“Mr. Musk’s substantial private interests present a massive conflict of interest with the role he has taken on as your ‘unofficial co-president,’” Warren wrote, referring to a Washington Post article. “Currently, the American public has no way of knowing whether the advice that he is whispering to you in secret is good for the country—or merely good for his own bottom line.”
Musk responded on X by posting an AI-generated image of Warren in Native American regalia to promote his AI company Grok.
In response, Trump’s spokesperson Karoline Leavitt called Warren “Pocahontas,” referring to a controversy over her claims of a Native American lineage. A DNA test indicated her genetic makeup is between 1/64th and 1/1,024th Native American, The Boston Globe reported; Warren has since apologized to Native communities.
Advertisement:
“President Trump has assembled the most impressive and qualified team of innovators, entrepreneurs, and geniuses to advise and staff our government,” Leavitt said in a statement to the Post. “Pocahontas can play political games and send toothless letters, but the Trump-Vance transition will continue to be held to the highest ethical and legal standards possible — a standard unfamiliar to a career politician whose societal impact is 1/1024th of Elon Musk’s.”
Warren: ‘An invitation for corruption on a scale not seen in our lifetimes’
Already, Musk’s own net worth has increased by $170 billion since the election after pouring at least $277 million into Trump and other Republican candidates’ campaigns, the Post reported this week. Warren pointed to Tesla’s stock surge post-Trump, which earned him $70 billion.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has opened up five investigations into Tesla, according to the New York Times, as Trump considers scrapping a requirement for companies to report their automated crash data, Reuters said.
Warren also said that Musk, the richest person in the world, “may have clear conflicts of interest.” She pointed to investigations from the Security and Exchange Commission, including into potential securities fraud when he bought Twitter, CNBC reported, and into Neuralink, Musk’s brain implant company.
Advertisement:
“As a member of the transition team, Mr. Musk is not a federal employee, but the conflicts he faces are enormous and the need for him to be subject to similar ethics standards is obvious,” Warren said.
Warren listed seven questions for Trump to answer by next week regarding Musk’s role. She asked what ethics standards apply to Musk, if he has complied already, and if he has recused himself from any discussions regarding the DOGE. She asked if he would recuse himself on matters related to his businesses and about his relationships with other business leaders.
“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,” Warren said.
Read Warren’s entire letter here.
To comment, please create a screen name in your profile
To comment, please verify your email address
Conversation
This discussion has ended. Please join elsewhere on Boston.com