Elon Musk claimed he did save citizens$ 2 trillion by reducing government when he launched the so-called Department of Government Performance, or Expand, in a funny allusion to his flirtation with bitcoin. Then it reached$ 1 trillion. Now, it’s$ 150 billion.
However, according to a recent Senate investigation, Musk may have discreetly pocketed for himself any money he hasn’t disclosed to the state, according to Rolling Stone.
Democrats on the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations ( PSI), headed by Sen. Richard Blumenthal, estimated that as of President Donald Trump‘s inauguration in 2025, there would be at least$ 2.37 billion in liabilities for Musk’s businesses as a result of 65 actual or threatened enforcement actions by 11 federal agencies, in a report released on Monday.
Senate Democrats reportedly claimed that the$ 2.37 billion estimate is wildly undervalued compared to the$ 2.37 billion estimate, which implyes that Musk’s involvement in government would leave him with no legal protection.
All of these cases involve EEOC investigations into allegations of racial harassment at Tesla, SEC investigations into Neuralink leaks, and, most impressively, a DOJ criminal investigation into how Tesla pitched its” Autopilot” and” Full Self-Driving ( FSD ) software, which critics had criticized as being incredibly risky, were made.
Expand in, conduct examinations,
Most of these studies have just vanished under the Trump administration, which has accepted Expand into national agencies. An unexpected example is provided in the document. A bias circumstance against SpaceX was quietly dropped by the Department of Justice in February, which had the potential to cost$ 46 million in civil fines.
Liberals on the House Judiciary Committee have huge argued that DOGE was intended to sever the regulatory bodies that are tasked with examining Musk’s kingdom.
The beautiful breadth and scale of gains Musk is making from his present role may never be known, by design, according to Musk. The solitude is tactical and dangerous, according to the Senate statement.
Tesla’s issues are getting louder while authorities have sat still.
In 2022, the DOJ’s investigation into FSD expanded to the question whether Tesla and Musk defrauded the general public and investors in regards to Tesla and Musk’s technology since 2016. If fees were always brought, potential scam sanctions could increase that number to$ 1.19 billion, given that FSD subscriptions only made$ 596 million in 2024.
That’s getting more and more doubtful. According to Attorney General Pam Bondi, Trump’s DOJ appears to be more interested in pursuing those accused of damaging Tesla’s house and identifying them as “domestic jihadists” than pursuing Musk himself.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration ( NHTSA ) is still looking into Tesla for steering failures, brake problems, unintended acceleration, and whether a recall to fix Autopilot problems actually worked.
Tesla’s challenging route back
Tesla’s balance sheet creates a more gloomy picture than Musk’s, despite Musk’s decision to avoid legal fees.
The business only managed to stay upright by selling carbon credits to another carmakers, which resulted in a 71 % drop in quarterly earnings from the previous year. Due to Musk’s political controversy, democratic users are shunning the company, and competitors like Waymo are introducing robotaxis in urban facilities.
Musk stated on Tesla’s most latest earnings call that he would cut back on his job with DOGE so that he could concentrate on the struggling manufacturer. Yet though he recently announced a special “Cybercab” program last fall, he also made hints about a captain robotaxi activity in Austin this June with upgraded Model Y cars.
He promised a lot in the way of promises, like in the past,” there will be millions of Teslas driving totally freely in the next half of the year.”
” Tesla will control the rideshare business for about 90 cent.”
