Musk Faces Democratic Probes After Midterm Losses

Elon Musk is set to face a wave of congressional investigations after Democrats won control of Congress in the US midterm elections, despite the billionaire pouring hundreds of millions of dollars into backing Republicans, The London Economic reported, citing Forbes.

Musk gave between $446 million and $474 million to Republican groups during the campaign, according to a New York Times tally cited by Moneywise. That included $216 million to his own super PAC, America PAC, and at least $168 million to the Senate Leadership Fund, most of it aimed at backing Ken Paxton, the Republican Senate nominee in Texas.

What Democrats want to probe

Senior Democrats have already flagged several lines of inquiry. Musk’s alleged role in restricting Ukraine’s access to SpaceX’s Starlink network has been floated as a top priority, The London Economic said, alongside his time leading the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) and the federal contracts awarded to his companies.

Rep. Zoe Lofgren of California has described the potential conflicts of interest in Musk’s government contracts as “astounding”, while Senator Richard Blumenthal is calling for a full inquiry into DOGE, according to the outlet.

Forbes reported that a spokesperson for Rep. Robert Garcia of California, the incoming chair of the House Oversight Committee, said Musk’s DOGE role is something the panel plans to investigate. Rep. Gregory Meeks of New York, the top Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, has called for a full accounting of the damage he said Musk and DOGE caused, Forbes added.

Contracts under scrutiny

An analysis by the Democracy Defenders Fund found Musk’s companies received at least $10 billion in new government contracts and grants in the 17 months after he left DOGE, Moneywise reported. Forbes, citing the same group, said his firms also secured $6.3 billion in contracts while he was at DOGE.

Scrutiny may extend beyond Washington. Forbes reported that Nathan Johnson, Texas’s incoming attorney general, told NBC News he intends to investigate Musk.

How Musk and Trump responded

Musk responded to an October Politico report on the planned probes by posting “Live by the sword, die by the sword” on X, adding that he would come after those he believed were “pulling the strings”, according to Moneywise.

President Donald Trump said before the vote that he would be willing to pardon Musk and allies if Democrats pursued them, telling the New York Post, “we’ll just have to protect those people.” Forbes noted that presidential pardons cover only federal crimes, not state investigations. SpaceX and Tesla did not respond to Moneywise’s requests for comment.

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