Elon Musk at a Trump rally at Madison Square Garden in New York City. Photo by Mark Downey via Alamy Stock Photo

Ethics experts have been sounding the alarm since before Election Day that wealthy special interests were poised to have an excessive amount of influence on the federal government under a second Donald Trump administration.

After President Trump used an official appearance on the White House lawn to promote Tesla, the car company owned by billionaire megadonor Elon Musk, it is more apparent than ever that wealthy Americans have excessive influence on our executive branch.

Trump’s free auto show is just one of the gifts he’s bestowed upon Elon Musk after the tech mogul spent roughly $300 million to get him elected.

One of Trump’s first executive orders rebranded the U.S. Digital Service as the “Department of Government Efficiency” (DOGE) and placed significant power in Elon Musk’s hands.

While tech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy was originally the expected co-head of the organization, he has since departed from the venture.

Trump’s picks for his Cabinet and other high-ranking positions have drawn a fair amount of scrutiny for the many ethics concerns they bring to their post.

When a president nominates someone to a public post with conflicts of interest, ethics laws require that the government and nominees themselves take steps to highlight potential conflicts and remedy them before a nominee is confirmed.

Whether or not Elon Musk will face the same pressure to bring objectivity to his post is unclear.

How Ethics Laws Apply to Musk  

Musk is reportedly a “special government employee” — someone expected to work for the federal government for 130 days or less in a 365-day period. Accordingly, Musk should be covered by a law that prohibits government employees from participating in matters that would impact their financial interests.

Whether or not this will keep Musk from engaging in matters that affect his business is questionable. If a violation is found, it is up to Trump’s Department of Justice to enforce the law.

Given that the president himself has not bothered to remedy his own conflicts of interest and has prevented the Justice Department from prosecuting his political allies, Musk may not face any pressure to comply with the ethics law.

How DOGE May Help Musk Line His Pockets

With so much latitude to advise on spending, regulations and government contracting, Musk has significant opportunities to advance his own personal business interests.

The scope of what Elon Musk stands to gain from directing agency reconstruction cannot be fully stated. Musk and the federal government are already deeply intertwined: His companies Tesla and SpaceX account for at least $15.4 billion in government contracts over the past decade and span multiple agencies.

Any power to influence which agencies must cut costs or how government contracts are doled out opens the door for Musk to enhance his personal fortune.

Some of the decisions Musk has already announced in his short tenure clearly interact with his business interests; his plan to put the U.S. Treasury on a blockchain could potentially involve his own cryptocurrency technologies, and CLC brought forward an ethics complaint against Musk for possibly influencing the Federal Aviation Agency to use products from SpaceX subsidiary, Starlink.

One of the most concerning facts of Musk’s involvement is that DOGE’s authority and access to information in the federal government remains mostly undefined.

Musk could potentially have access to information that could influence his business decision making, such as access to the federal payment system, which contains details of public contractors who compete directly with Musk’s own businesses.

When Americans elect a president, they expect them to faithfully choose allies with the experience and conduct necessary to run a successful administration that serves the people.

It is concerning that Trump seems to be selecting his top officials based on their loyalty to his movement over specific qualifications. That concern increases when you realize that his pool of potential allies contains ultra-wealthy businessmen who could regulate the very businesses they head.

Trump’s leadership picks will greatly influence how he shapes policies, regulations and laws that impact the lives of all Americans. We deserve leaders that will place the public good over personal gain.