President-elect Donald Trump’s announcement Tuesday that tech billionaire Elon Musk and biotech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy will lead a newly formed advisory committee Ministry of Government Effectiveness has alarmed some government ethics experts, who say the two men’s deep financial interests could lead to possible conflicts of interest.

Some ethics experts are particularly alarmed that Musk and Ramaswamy’s roles have been described as “outside government” – an arrangement that could potentially mean they would not be subject to normal financial disclosure rules, despite the major impact their work could have on the federal government. government.

“Together, these two wonderful Americans will lead the way for my administration to dismantle government bureaucracy, cut excessive regulations, cut wasteful spending, and restructure federal agencies,” Trump said of Musk and Ramaswamy, both vocal supporters of Trump’s re-election campaign.

As outside government advisers, Musk – who owns Tesla, governmental ethics. .

Certain categories of outside government advisers may be required to disclose their interests under the Federal Advisory Committee Act – including if they are classified as “special government employees” – but ethics experts say one does not know enough about the proposed department. to find out if they would be covered by this law.

Musk promised transparency, posting on X shortly after the announcement: “All actions of the Department of Government Effectiveness will be published online for maximum transparency.”

“The transition team will ensure that the Department of Government Efficiency and those involved comply with all legal guidelines related to conflicts of interest,” Trump transition spokesman Brian Hughes said. at ABC News.

Kedric Payne, senior director of ethics at the Campaign Legal Center, told ABC News that the possibility that Musk and Ramaswamy may not have financial disclosure obligations is alarming because of their work reducing regulations or government spending could have a direct impact on their business interests without public knowledge.

“This could simply be an attempt to end regulations aimed at their business interests at the expense of public officials and the public,” said Payne, who added that they may also be able to secure more contracts governments for their businesses.

“If you exclude the government from performing certain tasks, then those tasks can be outsourced to government contracts for consultants,” Payne said.

Payne also highlighted the highly unusual nature of Musk and Ramaswamy’s proposed roles as outside advisors with significant influence.

“It’s extremely rare to do this,” he said. “It’s common for outside experts to give advice to government… as part of a simple meeting, or something that takes place over a period of time. But finding ourselves in a situation where we have outside contractors having commercial interests, which could change the way they are regulated, and having this much power is not common.”

Payne also called for transparency about who else would work with Musk and Ramaswamy in the new department, saying their interests should also be made public.

Noah Bookbinder, president of Citizens for Responsible Ethics in Washington, echoed some of Payne’s concerns about possible conflicts of interest given Musk and Ramaswamy’s business interests, while emphasizing that more details are needed to determine whether there would be a violation of federal ethics laws.

“We don’t yet know enough about how these positions will operate to know whether there will actually be conflicts of interest and what those conflicts will be,” Bookbinder said. “If Musk and Ramaswamy are in a position where they can influence government decisions and if some of those decisions could impact their companies, then there could be a risk of illegal conflicts of interest. Other laws and rules could also be in question today depending on the evolution of the situation what they do and how this “Department” works.

Bookbinder also raised the possibility that others in the government might feel obligated to view Musk’s interests favorably given his significant influence over Trump, something sources recently noted to ABC News. Musk offers his opinion on Trump’s personnel decisions and play an important role in shaping the future Trump administration.