Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-VA11), Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-TX30) Launch Investigation Into Elon Musk's Obvious Conflicts of Interest at Department of Commerce
Washington, D.C. (April 8, 2025)—Today, Rep. Jasmine Crockett, Vice Ranking Member of the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, and Rep. Gerald E. Connolly, Ranking Member of the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, sent a
letterto Acting General Counsel John K. Guenther at the U.S. Department of Commerce (Commerce) requesting documents, information, and answers as to how Commerce is ensuring Elon Musk is not exploiting Commerce to enrich himself in violation of federal ethics rules. As Elon Musk and his DOGE lackeys’ gut and terminate Americans’ vital programs and services under the guise of “efficiency,” he has conveniently ignored the potential waste, fraud, and abuse stemming from his own companies’ lucrative contracts worth billions in taxpayer dollars. Ethics laws prevent political appointees, including SGEs, from taking part in any matter that might impact their
personal finances. Yet, as of February 2025, Mr. Musk and his companies have received a combined total of at least
$38 billionin contracts, loans, subsidies, and tax credits from the federal government and state governments. In fact, Mr. Musk’s businesses have been more
relianton government funds than many of his competitors.
wrote the Members.
Financial Benefits to Musk’s Companies from Commerce include:
Michael Grimes, a Wall Street executive who has worked with Mr. Musk for many years and assisted Mr. Musks’s $44 billion purchase of Twitter, is now a senior adviser at Commerce. Grimes will reportedly lead a U.S. sovereign wealth fund that will be created by the Trump Administration and could direct billions of dollars to Mr. Musk’s companies.
In addition, as of March 2025, Mr. Musk’s DOGE operation had terminated approximately 2,000 employees of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), which is housed in the Department of Commerce, leading former NOAA employees to sound the alarm on Mr. Musk’s efforts to gut NOAA to privatize space and satellite operations and steer new contracts to SpaceX and Starlink.
President Trump illegally fired Commerce’s inspector general, the agency’s independent watchdog responsible for conducting oversight of any potential waste, fraud, abuse, or corruption associated with Mr. Musk.
In order to ensure that Commerce is complying with federal ethics and other relevant laws with respect to Elon Musk, Vice Ranking Member Crockett and Ranking Member Connolly requested that Commerce provide information, documents, and answers by April 22, 2025.
Click here to read the letter to Commerce Acting General Counsel John K. Guenther.
