The blue tsunami didn’t just flip Congress upside down. It may also ruin one of President Donald Trump’s biggest benefactors, a man who has become the Welfare Queen of American tax dollars.
Should the Lord continue to bless us, Tesla and SpaceX chief Elon Musk is about to find out what happens when somebody finally gets their hands on the purse strings. Before Democrats swept the midterms and took control of both the House and Senate, Musk was riding high on the billions of dollars in government contracts his companies received under Trump.
At the beginning of Trump’s term, Musk assembled a motley crew of pimple-faced sycophants to comb through some of America’s most personal data under the moniker of the Department of Government Efficiency, better known as DOGE. The supposed mission was to eliminate government waste. The actual result was a chainsaw-wielding billionaire with unprecedented access to federal agencies and Americans’ private information.
In return, Musk flooded Republican candidates with obscene amounts of cash. Some reports estimate he spent roughly $445 million through donations to candidates, political action committees, and outside groups, NPR reports.
Now Democrats have the power to investigate just how cozy that relationship became.
“The central question Democratic lawmakers say they want answered is whether Musk used his influence inside the Trump administration to benefit his own businesses, and whether taxpayer money, government data and public institutions were put at risk in the process,” NPR reports.
And there is plenty to examine. During DOGE’s four months of access to Americans’ private information, Musk received approximately $6.3 billion in government contracts, according to the Democracy Defenders Fund, a legal advocacy nonprofit.
“The DOGE chickens are coming home to roost,” Rep. James Walkinshaw (D-Va.) wrote on X. He said Musk must answer under oath for the firings, service cuts and claims about government savings.
NPR also reports that Democrats intend to examine Musk’s foreign dealings, including his reported ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“[One] more thing to add to the list of questions for Musk when I subpoena him,” Democratic Sen. Chris Coons of Delaware posted.
And that’s the thing about winning elections: Democrats don’t just get to make speeches about accountability. They get gavels, subpoenas, and the power to demand answers.
For a billionaire who spent millions helping Republicans maintain control of Washington, the irony is delicious. Musk helped bankroll the people who protected him. Now those people are out of power, and the folks who want to investigate him are in charge.
Turns out the government can be pretty efficient when it comes to making a billionaire answer for how he spent everybody else’s money.
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