As Donald Trump and tech billionaire Elon Musk work zealously to slash tens of billions in federal spending by axing thousands of jobs and gutting some government agencies, Musk faces mounting claims he has conflicts of interest and no oversight, legal and ethics experts say.
Trump’s largest campaign donor and the world’s wealthiest man, Musk was tapped by the president to lead the so-called “department of government efficiency” (Doge) in a radical and opaque cost-cutting drive that allows him to keep control of SpaceX, Tesla and other huge companies with billions of dollars in federal contracts.
