(AP) – In choose billionaire Elon Musk To be “our way to cut costs” for the U.S. government, President-elect Donald Trump will not be the first U.S. president to empower a business mogul to seek ways to dramatically reduce federal regulations.

President Ronald Reagan tasked J. Peter Grace with leading a bureaucratic cost-cutting commission in 1982. Yet the chemical magnate had fewer conflicts of interest than the richest man in the world today.

Musk’s SpaceX has billions of dollars in contracts with NASA. He is CEO of Tesla, an electric car company that benefits from government tax incentives and is subject to auto safety rules. Its social media platform X, artificial intelligence startup xAI, brain implant maker Neuralink and tunnel construction company Boring all intersect with the federal government in various ways.

“There are direct conflicts between his businesses and government interests,” said Ann Skeet, director of leadership ethics at Santa Clara University’s Markkula Center. “He is now in a position to try to curry favor with these companies.”

Musk is also more influential, having pumped approximately $200 million through his political action committee to help elect Trump, has become a must-have at Mar-a-Lago since the presidential election and maintains regular relationships with like-minded global political leaders, from Argentine President Javier Milei to Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.

Trump said Musk and former Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy would lead a new “Department of Government Effectiveness” or DOGE, a pleasant name that refers to the cryptocurrency Dogecoin and appeals to Musk’s sense of humor.

“We finally have a mandate to remove the mountain of stifling regulations that do not serve the common good,” Musk said Wednesday on X.

Trump said Musk and Ramaswamy would work outside of government to offer the White House “advice and guidance” and would partner with the Office of Management and Budget to drive structural reforms – some of which could only be implemented through Congress.

“If it’s a commission, it’s not under the government” and Musk cannot have a White House position or official government title, said Richard Painter, an ethics attorney at the White House during the administration of George W. Bush. “Then the president follows the advice or not.”

However, if it were a real government agency, Musk would run into federal conflict of interest laws unless he divests himself from his companies or recuses himself from government matters involving them, said Painter.

Trump could grant a rare waiver exempting Musk from these laws, a move that has been politically unpopular in the past, Painter said.

Tesla, SpaceX and X did not immediately respond to requests for comment Wednesday on whether Musk would recuse himself. Trump’s transition team also did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Whatever their structure, Musk’s ideas should be influential.

Regulating automobile safety

Tesla, the electric vehicle maker that made Musk the world’s richest person, has had repeated skirmishes with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, which regulates vehicle safety. So any reduction in NHTSA funding or staffing could help Tesla.

The agency forced Tesla into recalls it didn’t want and opened investigations into Tesla vehicles, some of which raised questions about Musk’s claims that Tesla is close to rolling out driverless autonomous vehicles human. The agency is also working on regulations covering vehicle automation.

Auto safety advocates fear that a Department of Government Efficiency co-chaired by Musk could propose draconian cuts to NHTSA.

“This could be extremely problematic, because it would impact all the rules coming from all the agencies that currently oversee the companies that Musk owns,” said Michael Brooks, executive director of the Center for Auto Safety, a nonprofit watchdog group. non-profit.

If implemented, Musk’s efficiency plan at NHTSA could mirror what he did when he took over Twitter: drastic staff reductions, said Missy Cummings, director of the center in Autonomy and Robotics from George Mason University and former safety advisor to NHTSA.

Although Cummings admits that it is possible that much of the federal government could become more efficient, she said that NHTSA is already understaffed and she predicted that Musk would try to slow down or stop NHTSA investigations or to handicap the agency so that it has difficulty enforcing regulations.

“It would just remain a shell of the agency that it was,” she said. “Their whole job would be to run ads reminding people to just wear their seat belts.”

Space exploration

Launching test flights from South Texas, SpaceX’s Starship mega-rocket is how NASA intends to land astronauts on the Moon for the first time in more than half a century . NASA has awarded more than $4 billion to SpaceX for the first two human moon landings planned for later this decade as part of the Artemis program. Musk is at odds with the Federal Aviation Administration for slowing down Starship due to what he sees as excessive bureaucracy.

SpaceX has also racked up several contracts with NASA over the past decade for launching supplies and astronauts to the International Space Station. Contracts for crew flights alone from 2020 to 2030 total $5 billion.

Most recently, in June, NASA awarded an $843 million contract to SpaceX to provide the vehicle to deorbit the International Space Station at the end of its life in early 2031, directing it toward a fiery re-entry to Earth. above the Pacific.

SpaceX also has several contracts with the Department of Defense, some classified and worth billions. Additionally, the Pentagon purchased internet services in Ukraine from SpaceX’s Starlink constellation. The weaponized version of Starlink is called Starshield.

Social media and AI

Social media platform X is another Musk company that has faced increased scrutiny from federal regulators. The Federal Trade Commission investigated Musk’s handling of sensitive consumer data after he took control of the company in 2022, but did not take enforcement action. The SEC has an ongoing investigation into Musk’s purchase of the social media company.

Musk has been forceful with his political views on the platform, changing its rules, content moderation systems and algorithms to conform to his worldview. After Musk endorsed Trump following the attack on the former president last summer, the platform transformed into a megaphone for the Trump campaign, offering an unprecedented level of free advertising that he’s virtually impossible to calculate the value.

Musk’s keen interest in AI is also likely to play a role. He is building an AI supercomputer in Memphis, Tennessee, for his AI startup xAI.

But environmental groups have raised concerns about pollution generated by the facility’s gas turbines and strain on the local power grid, which has drawn the attention of the Environmental Protection Agency .

The facility is located near predominantly black neighborhoods that have long faced pollution and health risks from factories and other industrial sites.

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AP reporter Adrian Sainz in Memphis, Tennessee, and AP Aerospace Writer Marcia Dunn in Cape Canaveral, Florida, contributed to this report.

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