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\n

Elon Musk is facing a gauntlet<\/a> of Democratic oversight.<\/p>\n

Democrats have long eyed investigating the world\u2019s richest man and the GOP\u2019s top donor<\/a>. They may get their chance if they win back congressional power in November, and senior members are mulling how a range of panels could target Musk and a huge swath of his businesses.<\/p>\n

Their list of potential probes is growing.<\/p>\n

Some members are eager to dig into Musk\u2019s possible role last week in throttling crucial internet access<\/a> to the Ukrainian military as President Donald Trump seeks to pressure the country into cutting a peace deal with Russia.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat happens when one guy gets a giant contract from the government and then uses it to do something that shuts down communication in a war that has been extremely important to the United States to support Ukraine?\u201d Rep. Pramila Jayapal said in an interview.<\/p>\n

The incident is one of a glut of alleged conflicts of interests members cited as ripe for oversight, as Musk\u2019s companies like SpaceX and Tesla rake in multi-billion dollar federal contracts and subsidies.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe sheer number of conflicts of interest are astounding,\u201d top Space, Science and Technology Democrat Rep. Zoe Lofgren said.<\/p>\n

Spokespeople for Musk did not respond to multiple requests for comment.<\/p>\n

Members of House Oversight and other panels also want to examine Musk\u2019s role in eliminating over 250,000 federal jobs during his time at DOGE, withholding congressionally appropriated money and accessing sensitive government data.<\/p>\n

\u201cCongress must demand a full accounting of the damage Mr. Musk and DOGE caused, and we will not let anyone obstruct our oversight,\u201d House Foreign Affairs ranking member Rep. Greg Meeks said in a statement Monday, referring to the so-called Department of Government Efficiency Musk headed last year.<\/p>\n

Meeks named Musk\u2019s part in \u201c the cruel<\/a> dismantling of USAID\u201d as a prime target for his panel next year.<\/p>\n

Some Democrats are not waiting for gavels: House Homeland Security Democrats demanded last month Musk testify under oath<\/a> about a watchdog report claiming DOGE overstated its savings. And Ways and Means Democrats called for an investigation into the group\u2019s alleged data theft<\/a> from Social Security records.<\/p>\n

But even members on panels with less obvious ties to the tech mogul are eyeing targets. Rep. Maxine Dexter, who sits on Natural Resources and Veterans Affairs, said she sees Musk among \u201cthe well-connected billionaire, trillionaires who have seen government contracts as a way to subsidize their own company\u2019s research, development, and bottom line.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe need to shut that down,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

What else we\u2019re watching:\u00a0<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

\u2014 MEET TRUMP’S HILL LIAISON:\u00a0<\/b>Katie Bailey is poised to run point between<\/u><\/a> the White House and a chaotic Congress \u2014 especially if Democrats prevail in the midterms. Trump\u2019s pick for the new director of the Office of Legislative Affairs is a longtime former congressional aide with wide-ranging experience in oversight and investigations. Her first task will be helping navigate a fast-moving, high-stakes \u201clame duck\u201d legislative session, where lawmakers rush to pass outstanding bills and avoid a government shutdown. James Braid, who previously held the role before announcing his departure in August, said in an interview that Bailey is up for that task.<\/p>\n

\u2014 GOP TRIES TO SPARE UKRAINE FROM TRUMP: <\/b>Republican lawmakers are scrambling to find a way<\/u><\/a> to stop Trump from cozying up to Russia and dismissing Ukraine \u2014 but they\u2019re running low on options. All of it comes in response to the president\u2019s decisions to purchase<\/u><\/a> Russian diesel, waive sanctions on<\/u><\/a> Moscow and potentially stop sharing intelligence<\/u><\/a> with Ukraine. Lawmakers are also frustrated with days of unexplained disruptions<\/a> in Kyiv\u2019s U.S.-controlled satellite defenses. The disparate responses reflect an undercurrent of Republican angst about an administration that has largely ignored Congress on Ukraine and foreign policy more broadly \u2014 and the lack of a coordinated response from the legislative branch. They underscore just how little power Trump\u2019s own party has had in reining in his attacks on longstanding allied relationships.<\/p>\n

Riley Rogerson, Chris Marquette, Adam Wren, Mia McCarthy, Mark Satter and Leo Shane III contributed to this report.<\/i><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Elon Musk is facing a gauntlet of Democratic oversight. Democrats have long eyed investigating the world\u2019s richest man and the GOP\u2019s top donor. They may get their chance if they win back congressional power in November, and senior members are mulling how a range of panels could target Musk and a huge swath of his […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-27542","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-congress"],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27542","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27542"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27542\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27542"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27542"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27542"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}