WASHINGTON, D.C. — A new white paper, Cut to Shreds: How Elon Musk Profited While Decimating the US Government, offers a blistering account of Elon Musk’s tenure as a “special government employee” under President Trump. Far from a symbolic role, Musk used his position as de facto head of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) to slash public protections, consolidate influence across federal agencies, and open new revenue pipelines for his companies. This white paper arrives amid an increasingly public feud between Trump and Musk, a chaotic falling out that further highlights just how transactional their alliance always was.

The report, co-authored by Charles Green, former Amb. Norm Eisen (ret.) (the executive chair of Democracy Defenders Fund), Virginia Canter, and Heather Dewar, documents how Musk’s brief stint in government overlapped with unprecedented self-dealing, skyrocketing contract awards, regulatory rollbacks benefiting his firms, and relaxed ethics oversight. The report calls on the Office of Government Ethics to investigate whether Musk violated federal conflict-of-interest laws during his time as a special government employee.

"Musk gutted the government in broad daylight. He slashed public protections -- including in agencies that oversee his businesses,” said Amb. Norm Eisen (ret.), the executive chair of Democracy Defenders Fund. “He used a chainsaw when a scalpel was needed – also raising profound questions about conflicts that demand answers. This report will help to hold him accountable.”

Key findings include:

• Billions in federal contracts flowed to Musk-controlled entities during his government service, including $6.3 billion in new SpaceX deals and potential windfalls from a $542 billion missile shield program.

• Starlink’s fortunes are poised to surge once the Commerce Department implements announced rule changes that widens its eligibility domestically and after the State Department advocacy boosted its availability overseas.

• Federal ethics norms collapsed, with Musk having been given seemingly endless authority over agencies and programs that directly affected his companies, despite being legally required to recuse himself.

• Regulatory scrutiny evaporated, as cases involving Tesla, Neuralink, and other Musk ventures were delayed or dropped while enforcement agencies saw mass firings.

• X’s ad revenue rebounded, potentially aided by pressure campaigns on advertisers and growing federal reliance on the platform for communications.

• DOGE staff deployed across the government reportedly gained access to sensitive data, raising alarms about whether proprietary government information could now be used to train Musk’s AI firm.

The report warns that Musk’s departure does not end the risk. Many former Musk employees remain embedded across the executive branch. Trump’s budget proposals and agency actions continue to reflect Musk’s priorities, from Mars colonization funding to deregulating self-driving cars.

Now, in the middle of the disintegration of their partnership, it’s more obvious than ever that Musk was given a blank check to dismantle our government because he helped Trump win the presidency. The new report details exactly how he used that unchecked power: to enrich himself and entrench his influence.

"This report lays bare how Elon Musk exploited a government role to benefit himself, while gutting the very protections meant to prevent that abuse,” said Virginia Canter, Chief Counsel for Ethics and Anticorruption at Democracy Defenders Fund. “His conduct was corrosive to the foundations of public service. If we don’t close these loopholes, we’re inviting the next billionaire to do even worse.”

The full report is available HERE.

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Democracy Defenders Fund brings together a nonpartisan team to work with national, state, and local allies across the country to defend in real-time the foundations of our democracy.