Musk's business interests and government power raising ethics questions
Musk positions his Starlink company to net FAA communications contract
Elon Musk's declarations this week about his competitor Verizon's contract with the government, has raised ethics questions, as his new role leading the Department of Government Efficiency gives him sweeping power over some of the very agencies that hold contracts with his private business interests.
OAKLAND, Calif. - Elon Musk raised ethical concerns, as he publicly blasted Verizon, a competitor to his Starlink satellite communications company under the parent company SpaceX.
Musk's Starlink company provides satellite-based internet and communications services, and recently launched more communications satellites this past month.
On his social media site X this week, Musk blasted Verizon, which holds a $2 billion contract with the FAA to provide services.
Musk said in his post, "The Verizon communication system to air traffic control is breaking down," and asserted that it is close to "catastrophic failure, putting air traveler safety at serious risk."
He provided no evidence for that dramatic accusation, and later said he was wrong about Verizon, retracting his words and posting a correction on the app.
Musk has not stepped down from running his companies, even though his role as head of the Department of Government Efficiency under President Trump has given him sweeping power over government departments, including those that have signed contracts with Musk's private businesses.
This week, Musk stated he was installing Starlink equipment with the FAA, and some sources report that the agency is poised to end its multi-billion-dollar contract with Verizon, and instead give the contract to Musk's company.
"Elon Musk is awarding himself additional federal contracts. In fact, yesterday, it was reported he gave himself the FAA contract for communications. You guys, this is graft, waste, fraud, abuse," said Congresswoman Melanie Stansbury, a New Mexico Democrat.
UC Berkeley political science professor Eric Schickler, who is co-director of the Institute of Governmental Studies, says with Musk as a special government employee and not subject to Senate confirmation, vetting, or normal ethics reporting, the usual methods of oversight do not apply.
"It's extremely unusual to have a government decision maker with a lot of evident power, who is also heavily invested in and active in companies that are doing massive amounts of business with the federal government. And so that, in itself, creates a potential for a conflict of interest," Schickler said.
Musk has cut thousands of jobs, including hundreds with the FAA as he and Trump say they aim to cut a trillion dollars from the federal government.
With a Republican Congress, however, it will likely be left to the courts and the American people to decide where to draw ethical lines.
"The way many U.S. cities and state governments worked in the 19th century and into the 20th century in some places, was exactly that a kind of machine politics, where local business people basically run the city in partnership with politicians and get big contracts and huge benefits," Schickler said.
"Over the last 50 to 60 years in the United States, there's been a kind of move towards legal and other ethical regulations to try to prevent that from happening....our whole system of government is basically premised on the idea that we can't just trust people to be faithful to the public interest," he added.
"It's really up to whether the general public views this as unacceptable," Schickler said.
The FAA announced the agency is testing Starlink terminals to connect ground receivers in Atlantic City and Alaska to satellites.
According to Bloomberg News, a contractor, L3 Harris, says it has been testing Starlink terminals for incorporation into the FAA's infrastructure for several months.