Weekly Spotlight: Musk’s “Special” Status
This week, Elon Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) faced increased scrutiny as his team gained access to several federal agencies, including the Treasury Department.
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This week, Elon Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) faced increased scrutiny as his team gained access to several federal agencies, including the Treasury Department.
Given Musk’s status as a special government employee, he has not been required to cut ties with his several businesses. This raises serious ethics questions, as it’s unclear whether his work could impact contracts he has with the federal government and regulations that could benefit his company or the tech industry at large.
And as we reported, Musk has brought at least one of his former employees to DOGE, deepening concerns that Musk and his team could use their roles in government to benefit financially. There are also serious concerns surrounding how thoroughly Musk’s team has been vetted, particularly now that they’ve been granted access to highly sensitive information in the Treasury Department’s financial payments system.
Our government is not a tool to benefit the world’s wealthiest individuals. We are pushing for Musk and other government officials to operate with transparency and avoid conflicts of interest.
INVESTIGATION
Elon Musk’s DOGE Teams Raise Vetting, Ethics Concerns
Lawmakers are raising pointed questions about the access individuals connected to Elon Musk have to sensitive Treasury Department data.
ANALYSIS
This week in The Bunker: The U.S. launches another futile effort to render itself invulnerable to “all” overseas aerial threats; latest actions by commander-in-chief petty officer; The Bunker turns five today!; and more.
ANALYSIS
The Inspector General Caucus Must Stand Up Against Trump’s Illegal Firings
Congress must ensure that Trump removes inspectors general only for legitimate reasons — and only in a legal manner.
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
“There are supposed to be some constraints and parameters around a special government employee … but because the law is so weak and has so many gaps and holes in it, there are easy ways to game that system.”
Dylan Hedtler-Gaudette, Director of Government Affairs, in Boston Globe
OVERHEARD
Man, in a few months, it would be great if inspectors general could independently evaluate - and without fear of angering politically powerful figures - claims that DOGE is improving things and actually saving money.... wait...:">https://t.co/U6WmocASbL
— Project on Government Oversight (@POGOwatchdog) February 5, 2025
ONE LINERS
“[Corporate contributions of this sort are] likely to curry favor with the new administration and position themselves to either avoid retaliation or take advantage of their newly purchased access, or both.”
Dylan Hedtler-Gaudette, Director of Government Affairs, in NOTUS
“When we talk about abuses [in government] we also talk about abuses of power, and that’s what we’re seeing now.”
Faith Williams, Director of the Effective and Accountable Government Program, in Christian Science Monitor
“[Deploying the National Guard at the U.S. border] is something that will not only affect noncitizens, it could be a prelude to even more delegation of power and abuse of that power.”
Katherine Hawkins, Senior Legal Analyst for The Constitution Project, in the Washington Post
“[Schedule Policy/Career] could really sweep up just about anyone, it seems. Especially when we’re talking about agencies like the Pentagon that obviously has both such a critical role to play and also where we might see some of the greatest threats.”
Joe Spielberger, Senior Policy Counsel, in Military.com
“Public service is a public trust, and not identifying [Department of Government Efficiency] team members is a violation of transparency and openness that the public deserves. We can’t have officials hiding in the dark and not being accountable for their work.”
Scott Amey, General Counsel, in Business Insider
“Waivers are a huge problem. They give every administration and the relevant individual a ‘get out of ethics free’ escape hatch.”
Dylan Hedtler-Gaudette, Director of Government Affairs, in Barron’s
