WASHINGTON − Billionaire disrupters Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy made a joint appearance on Capitol Hill this week to press their cost-cutting bona fides amid a mixed reception from sometimes-giddy Republicans and wary Democrats.
GOP House members were sanguine about conflict of interest concerns while some Democrats − Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania not among them − feared President-elect Donad Trump was letting two foxes into the regulatory hen house with Musk and Ramaswamy atop his Department of Government Efficiency.
“I’m pretty excited about it,” Rep. Lloyd Smucker, R-Pa., said Thursday of the nongovernmental commission aimed at finding savings and efficiency in Washington.
Surrounded by reporters and Congressional staffers, Musk and Ramaswamy criss-crossed the Capitol for closed-door meetings with the elected representatives they’ll need to enact their eventual recommendations. Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, chair of the Senate’s new DOGE Caucus, used the occassion to release a report calling for an end to most remote work at government agencies − a subject the two billionaires have also highlighted.
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Conflict worries
Some government officials, ethics experts and Trump opponents say both Ramaswamy, a financier, and Musk, the wealthiest man in the world, will be positioned to suggest budget cuts and regulatory changes that will benefit their companies.
“There’s so much regulation that is involved in his many interests, and if he cuts the government’s ability to protect the public so that he can make a few extra dollars, that’s unfortunate,” Rep. Hank Johnson, D-Ga., said of Musk.
House Republicans said Musk and Ramaswamy’s combined track record of business success will help streamline the sprawling federal government − and dismissed the potential for conflicts of interest.
There’s “no reason to doubt the integrity of either one of these individuals,” Rep. Tom Cole, R-Okla., said. Cole is chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, whose members decide how the government spends money. “I think very highly of them both.”
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Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, who are leading U.S. President-elect Donald Trump’s proposed new Department of Government Efficiency, walk on Capitol Hill on the day of a meeting with members of Congress, as Musk holds his son on his shoulders, in Washington, U.S. December 5, 2024. REUTERS/Benoit Tessier
“My best advice to you is, if you’re evaluating somebody’s advice, you got to look at whatever their self interest is in evaluating that advice, right?” Ramaswamy said recently at the Aspen Security Forum in Washington, D.C. “That includes me.”
Musk and Ramaswamy both have significant holdings in industries and companies regulated by the federal government.
Musk, with a net worth of more than $343 billion, owns several companies that are regulated by the federal government and that also have federal contracts or receive federal subsidies. Musk was sued by the Justice Department in 2022 for allegedly discriminating against refugee job applicants, and the company has been sued multiple times for sexual harassment. He was forced to step down as chairman of the board at Tesla in 2018 to resolve federal securities fraud charges.
More: How Elon Musk cut costs at SpaceX, Tesla, X and what it means for DOGE
Musk and Trump are using the acronym DOGE for their “department.” It’s pronounced the same way as the cryptocurrency Dogecoin that Musk has long supported. The value of Dogecoin has jumped nearly 70% since Trump announced the department.
Brian Hughes, a spokesman for Trump’s transition team, previously said in a statement that Musk and Ramaswamy “will work together slashing excess regulations, cutting wasteful expenditures, and restructuring federal agencies.”
Tricia McLaughlin, a spokesperson for Ramaswamy, said the pair would run their commission “in full compliance with ethical and legal requirements.” Musk did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
More: Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy may be exempt from ethics rules as Trump’s advisors
‘They don’t have a constituency. We do’
Despite the focus on Musk, Ramaswamy, and the potential for conlicts, several members of Congress pointed out that they – not the DOGE – would decide if and how the budget is cut.
“I doubt very much that, you know, anything would happen that Congress would be uncomfortable with,” said Rep. Scott Fitzgerald, R-Wis. He said he and his colleagues have to respond to their constituents, and Musk and Ramaswamy don’t. Fitzgerald sits on the Judiciary Committee, which oversees the Justice Department.
Rep. Michael Lawler, R-N.Y., echoed Fitzgerald’s remarks. “Ultimately, the federal government, the Trump administration and Congress will act,” he said. Lawler sits on the House Financial Services Committee, which oversees the Securities and Exchange Commission.
A broad sample of House Republicans were enthusiastic about DOGE’s potential.
Rep. Bill Huizenga, R-Mich., who also sits on the House Financial Services Committee, said he would only be concerned if the department proposed cuts that only affected Musk and Ramaswamy. He said the recommendations will come to Congress “more broadly than that.”
Rep. Chip Roy, a member of the House Freedom Caucus, said that Musk and Ramaswamy are private citizens who are “perfectly free to put forward” ideas to improve the government.
Mixed reviews from Democrats
Amid the Democratic skeptics, Sen. Fetterman told Lilly Broadcasting he admired Musk, citing his work with SpaceX and in artificial intelligence. But his comments don’t echo the concerns of many of his colleagues.
Rep. Maxwell Frost, D-Fla., said the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability, where he serves, would play a significant role in holding Musk and Ramaswamy accountable.
“This is nothing more than an advisory board at this point. Without authorization from Congress, it’s not a department. It’s not a place with statutory powers or anything like that. So, I mean, we’ll see how the how much they influence the president,” he said.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Republican lawmakers dismiss ethics concerns about DOGE
