Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) wants to address any conflicts of interest billionaire Elon Musk may have in his role in President-elect Donald Trump’s administration before things get out of hand.
That’s why she penned a letter to Trump to set rules which would clearly define any conflicts of interest that may materialize, The Washington Post reported.
“Putting Mr. Musk in a position to influence billions of dollars of government contracts and regulatory enforcement without a stringent conflict of interest agreement in place is an invitation for corruption on a scale not seen in our lifetimes,” Warren wrote. “As your Transition Team Ethics Plan makes clear, the role of government is not to line the pockets of the wealthiest Americans; a strong, enforceable ethics plan for the world’s richest man is a necessary first step for delivering on that promise.”
Rules published by the General Services Administration forbid a member of the transition team from working “on particular matters involving specific parties that affect” their interests.
Musk, who is worth $474 billion, per the Bloomberg Billionaire Index, has a vested interest in a successful Trump presidency.
He has earned the title “first buddy” after spending more than $250 million in Trump’s campaign.
Musk has since been named to co-lead Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) advisory board with Vivek Ramaswamy.
In response, Karoline Leavitt, a spokeswoman for the transition, did not write about Musk’s ethics commitments.
But she did call Warren “Pocahontas,” a derogatory nickname Trump gave Warren when she said she was descended from Native Americans.
“President Trump has assembled the most impressive and qualified team of innovators, entrepreneurs, and geniuses to advise and staff our government,” Leavitt said. “Pocahontas can play political games and send toothless letters, but the Trump-Vance transition will continue to be held to the highest ethical and legal standards possible — a standard unfamiliar to a career politician whose societal impact is 1/1024th of Elon Musk’s.”
Time Magazine recently asked Trump if he thought Musk’s role as advisor was a conflict of interest given he owns X, formerly Twitter, Tesla, SpaceX, among others.
“I think that Elon puts the country long before his company,” Trump said. “He considers this to be his most important project, and he wanted to do it.”
Warren’s letter asked what ethics rules Musk has agreed to follow. It also asked if he has agreed to recuse himself from any matters.
“Moving forward, will he recuse himself from matters affecting Tesla, Space X, X, or any other company he owns or in which he has a substantial investment?” Warren asked.
“Currently, the American public has no way of knowing whether the advice that he is whispering to you in secret is good for the country — or merely good for his own bottom line,” Warren wrote.
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