Elon Musk will face scrutiny from Democrats after midterms

The central question Democratic lawmakers say they want answered is whether Musk used his influence inside the Trump administration to benefit his own businesses, and whether taxpayer money, government data and public institutions were put at risk in the process.

During the four months Musk led DOGE, he received at least $6.3 billion in government contracts. Since then, he has gained at least another $10 billion in government contracts, according to the Democracy Defenders Fund, a legal advocacy nonprofit.

"The DOGE chickens are coming home to roost. Elon Musk waved a chainsaw on stage and laughed while firing public servants and gutting the services Americans rely on. Then he lied to the American people about the savings. He must answer for it under oath," Rep. James Walkinshaw (D-Va.) wrote on X.

Musk's foreign dealings are also under scrutiny. Democratic Sen. Chris Coons of Delaware posted on X that Musk's links to Russia's President Vladimir Putin are "One more thing to add to the list of questions for Musk when I subpoena him."

U.S. Rep. Mike Levin of California highlighted that Musk restricted Ukraine's use of his Starlink satellite internet service days after Trump eased sanctions on Russia and began buying Russian diesel in October. Starlink and its military-grade counterpart, Starshield, are vital for Ukraine's civilian infrastructure, frontline communications and drone operations in its war against Russia.

"How on earth did we get to this point? How is it possible that Musk can disrupt an American ally's military operations whenever he chooses, maintain a clear line to the Kremlin, and face zero accountability to the American people or the U.S. government?" Levin wrote on X.

Musk did not respond to a request for comment from NPR.

While leading DOGE, Musk was a part-time special government employee, and as such was subject to a federal law prohibiting covered executive branch and related personnel from participating in official matters affecting their personal financial interests, said Richard Painter, former chief White House ethics lawyer in the George W. Bush administration.

"SpaceX is a big contractor and gets a lot of money from NASA and the Department of Defense. If [Musk] touched anything that he knew would have an impact on SpaceX, he would've committed a crime," Painter said.

Texas has played a growing role in Musk's business empire

Texas in particular has become a big focus of Musk's efforts to exert political power, as he has made the state the nerve center of his sprawling business empire. Tesla's corporate headquarters and a major vehicle manufacturing facility are in Austin. X, formerly Twitter, is based outside of Austin. SpaceX, which makes rockets and satellites, is based in southern Texas. Musk's Neuralink and The Boring Company are also headquartered in the state.

Much of Musk's estimated wealth is tied up in his ownership stakes in his companies. Even as markets rose Wednesday after Democrats' midterm wins, SpaceX shares fell nearly 4% and Tesla dropped 3%.

SpaceX is reportedly exploring several possible Texas sites for large data centers. Tesla owns and operates its massive Giga Texas data center in Austin. In August, plans for a $16.8 billion SpaceXAI semiconductor fabrication project in Texas were announced.

Musk directed at least $225 million of his midterm spending to Texas, according to OpenSecrets, including supporting Republican Ken Paxton's bid for U.S. Senate and Gov. Greg Abbott's reelection campaign.

But Paxton and Abbott both lost, suggesting Musk's money wasn't enough to overcome a wave of enthusiasm that saw Democrats capture every statewide office in Texas.

"Elon Musk wants our land. He wants our water. He wants our tax dollars. He wants his very own personal United States senator. He is trying to buy Texas," said James Talarico, who defeated Paxton in the Senate race, at a campaign rally in Lubbock last month.

Elon Musk's own posts on X about Talarico were often personal and incendiary. "Talarico will vote to trans your kids," he wrote on Nov. 1.

Talarico addressed Musk in his victory speech on Tuesday.

"We just sent a message to every billionaire mega-donor, every trillionaire mega-donor, every corrupt defender of this broken political system in this state, in this country. Power belongs to the people," Talarico said. "The real fight in this country is not right versus left; it is top versus bottom."

As results came in on Tuesday night, Musk wrote on X, "Guess my election-interfering space lasers didn't work this time," followed by a shrug emoji.