The Trump administration has been a boon for Elon Musk‘s companies’ regulatory issues. The billionaire who has run the so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) responsible for gutting certain federal agencies is now enjoying less scrutiny over his businesses since Donald Trump took office, NBC News reported.
An NBC News review of regulatory matters that involve Musk’s companies revealed that in more than 40 cases, regulators have not taken any public action in their investigations for many months.
Since Trump took office, the Justice Department has dropped a case against SpaceX that accused the company of refusing to hire asylum recipients and refugee immigrants to the U.S. A Labor Department probe into workforce discrimination at Tesla ended after Trump signed an executive order that gutted the office conducting the investigation. And the National Labor Relations Board has opened settlement talks over SpaceX firings of employees who criticized Musk. The U.S. Department of Agriculture was leading an investigation into Neuralink, which Musk owns, for potential animal welfare violations until one of Trump’s first executive orders fired inspectors general from USDA and 16 other agencies. The former inspectors generals are suing.
A congressional report last month stated that on the day Trump took the oath of office, Musk and his companies were facing some $2.37 billion in possible federal fines and penalties. The report, by Sen. Richard Blumenthal and the minority staff of the Senate’s Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, concluded that Musk and his companies were “subject to at least 65 actual or potential actions by 11 different federal agencies” on Jan. 20, 2025.
“Mr. Musk has taken a chainsaw to the federal government with no apparent regard for the law or for the people who depend on the programs and agencies he so blithely destroys,” the report said. “The through line connecting many of Mr. Musk’s decisions appears to be self-enrichment and avoiding what he perceives as obstacles to advancing his interests.”
Responding to the report, White House Communications Director Steven Cheung said, “Mr. Musk has never used his position for personal or financial gain, and any assertion otherwise is completely false and defamatory. Dick is clearly suffering from a debilitating and uncurable case of Trump Derangement Syndrome.”
Musk’s companies, per the report, have enjoyed more than $38 billion in government contracts, loans, subsidies and tax credits over the last 20 years. His companies will likely continue to profit from lucrative government contracts, even as Musk claims he is stepping back from DOGE.
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Reuters reported last month that Musk’s SpaceX is a leading contender for contracts to help create a satellite missile defense system for the U.S. that Trump calls the “Golden Dome.” Musk, whose company SpaceX offers a satellite internet service called Starlink, denied the report.
Last month, SpaceX was awarded contracts for 28 U.S. Space Force rocket launches worth $5.9 billion. In the first couple months of the administration, SpaceX received more than $560 million worth of government contracts, including $100 million from NASA. The Federal Aviation Administration and the White House have even installed Starlink satellite dishes to grow the government’s internet access.
From Rolling Stone US
