House Oversight and Reform Committee Democrats are looking to find out more about top White House advisor Elon Musk and his potential conflicts of interest while guiding the Department of Government Efficiency’s (DOGE) actions to root out what the Trump administration has called widespread government waste and corruption.
Rep. Gerry Connolly, D-Va., ranking member of the committee, introduced a resolution of inquiry (ROI) on Tuesday to investigate what the congressman is calling Musk’s “extensive conflicts of interest and entrenched corruption.”
“Elon Musk is running cabinet meetings, holding court in the Oval Office, and ripping through government agencies and sensitive databases – but the White House refuses to come clean about this unelected billionaire’s rampant and endless conflicts of interest,” said Rep. Connolly in a statement.
“Republicans are either too scared to conduct any real oversight of Musk’s actions, or they support this oligarch’s unlawful assault on the federal workforce and his attacks on Social Security as he divvies up cushy government contracts between his companies,” he continued.
The ROI would require the Trump administration to provide documentation on Musk’s role within the Federal government, his conflicts of interest, and Federal contracts with Musk-owned companies. The documents would be delivered to the committee, which would then compile it into a report within two weeks and share it with the House.
In February, Rep. Connolly addressed a letter to Trump voicing concerns about DOGE leadership and asked for transparency on Musk’s role after a White House official said while under oath that the supposed DOGE chief wasn’t leading the agency. Trump named Musk to head DOGE a week after the November election, promising to shrink the Federal workforce, cut budgets, and shutter agencies.
Rep. Connolly said his new ROI aims to “bring DOGE out from the shadows.”
A second ROI introduced by Rep. Connolly and Rep. Kweisi Mfume, D-Md., earlier this week, seeks to investigate “unprecedented attacks on federal workers” by Trump and Musk and “efforts to embed political loyalists” into the Federal government.
The investigation follows major slashes to the Federal workforce made by the administration which has since sparked suits and actions taken by the Merit Systems Protection Board.
The ROI requires the Trump administration to provide documents on Federal employees affected by Musk or DOGE’s recommendations, the removal of diversity, equity and inclusion staff, the ousting of nonpartisan inspectors general, and whether Congress was properly notified as required by law.
“Donald Trump and Elon Musk are destroying this country and unfortunately the Republican majority in Congress has been sitting by idly while they do it,” said Rep. Mfume in a statement. “It will be too late at some point and Americans in every part of the nation will feel the pain from the Trump-Musk bad decisions.”
And in a fresh letter today to the heads of the 24 largest Federal agencies, Connolly asked them for “immediate clarification regarding the shadowy activities” of DOGE teams that are operating agencies.
“The actions of employees operating under the ‘DOGE’ moniker have thus far been shielded from transparency and accountability, but this cannot continue,” the congressman said.
“The American public has a right to know how Musk’s DOGE teams are operating and how the actions of DOGE employees undermine lifesaving services, expose sensitive taxpayer data, and contribute to other unlawful activity,”?he said.
The letter seeks replies from the 24 agencies by March 14.
