As Elon Musk becomes increasingly intertwined with the federal government’s operations via his Department of Government Efficiency, Rep. Mikie Sherrill (D-Montclair) is asking the federal government’s watchdogs to take a closer look at the billionaire’s potential conflicts of interest.
In a letter sent today to inspectors general at eight different federal agencies and departments, Sherrill outlines her concerns about Musk holding such a large role in the Trump administration even as his own companies, such as SpaceX and Tesla, stand to financially benefit. One Washington Post analysis found that Musk and his companies have been the beneficiaries of $38 billion in federal government contracts and loans over the last 20 years.
“Managing a governmental body that is directly affecting an individual’s own personal finances is an unacceptable conflict of interest and degradation of the public trust,” Sherrill, a candidate for governor of New Jersey, states in the letter. “I ask that you review the actions of DOGE and Mr. Musk in your departments and agencies where there are potential conflicts of interest regarding Mr. Musk’s companies to ensure that improper or illegal behavior to benefit those companies has not taken place.”
The potential for conflicts of interest also arises in another key way, Sherrill argues: via federal agencies such as the National Labor Relations Board and the Securities and Exchange Commission that are responsible for investigating, and potentially penalizing, companies like Musk’s.
“Across a large number of agencies and regulatory bodies, the Trump Administration and DOGE have abruptly shifted federal policy to favor companies owned by Mr. Musk and limit the effectiveness of bodies actively investigating Mr. Musk,” Sherrill writes. “Given the lack of financial divestment by Mr. Musk or recusal from DOGE activities on the basis of conflicts of interest, these actions paint a disturbing picture whereby Mr. Musk is actively profiting from his role within the federal government.”
Sherrill is far from the first Democrat to target Musk as the Trump administration takes a hatchet to much of the federal government. Trump may have been elected nationwide, Democrats contend, but no voters elected Musk, and they’ve said they see little good that can come out of the world’s richest person having such a close involvement in government.
In addition to sending her letter to the inspectors general, Sherrill has also donated the money her own congressional campaign received from Musk’s company to charity – potentially defusing a frustrating issue for the congresswoman in her bid for governor.
NJ Advance Media reported last month that SpaceX’s PAC donated thousands of dollars to the congressional campaigns and leadership PACs of Sherrill and fellow gubernatorial candidate Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-Tenafly); Gottheimer gave away the money, but Sherrill initially did not, saying that it had already been spent on her congressional race. (Sherrill’s gubernatorial campaign never received any Musk PAC money.)
That led to charges of hypocrisy from one of Sherrill’s primary opponents, former State Senate President Steve Sweeney (D-West Deptford), who slammed the congresswoman after she sent out a fundraising email asking for money to defend New Jersey against Musk. “Sherrill took tens of thousands from Elon Musk and used his money, and then she turns around and asks the public to donate to her to stop him? She can’t have it both ways,” Sweeney charged.
But Sherrill’s campaign now says that the $31,500 that her congressional campaign and associated leadership PAC received from SpaceX has been given to the Community FoodBank of New Jersey, a network of food pantries, soup kitchens, and shelters in New Jersey.