Elon Musk walks on Capitol Hill on the day of a gathering with Senate Republican Chief-elect John Thune (R-SD), in Washington, U.S. December 5, 2024.
Benoit Tessier | Reuters
Elon Musk‘s involvement in the Trump administration’s airspace reform plan has rapidly spurred calls to bar the Tesla and SpaceX chief from these efforts over his alleged conflicts of curiosity.
U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy mentioned Wednesday he spoke with Musk — who additionally leads President Donald Trump‘s government-shrinking group DOGE — within the wake of a lethal aircraft crash above Washington, D.C., final week.
“We will remake our airspace, and we will do it rapidly,” Duffy mentioned after praising Musk as a “fairly exceptional man” with “entry to the very best technological folks, the very best engineers on the planet.”
Duffy later Wednesday wrote on Musk’s social media website X that DOGE is “going to plug in to assist improve our aviation system.”
Musk replied, “With the assist of President @realDonaldTrump, the @DOGE staff will goal to make speedy security upgrades to the air visitors management system.”
However Sen. Maria Cantwell, the highest Democrat on the committee that oversees air visitors management, mentioned that Musk shouldn’t be allowed anyplace close to these reform efforts.
“It is a clear battle of curiosity,” Cantwell advised reporters Thursday.
The senator from Washington state mentioned Musk has been “fined for violations.” She was referencing the Federal Aviation Administration proposing $633,000 in civil penalties in opposition to SpaceX final 12 months over the corporate’s alleged failures to comply with licensing guidelines throughout two rocket launches in 2023.
Musk had responded to that proposed tremendous by threatening to sue the FAA for “regulatory overreach.” Days later, he publicly urged then-FAA chief Michael Whitaker to resign.
Cantwell mentioned, “At a time while you want the FAA to name the photographs and say, ‘Do not launch now as a result of there may very well be a battle within the airspace,’ the very last thing I would like is that man attempting to manage the airspace.”
Whitaker stepped down on Jan. 20, the day Trump took workplace, after working the company for lower than 15 months. The transfer left the FAA and not using a Senate-confirmed head for the primary days of Trump’s second time period, together with the day when the American Airways flight collided with an Military Black Hawk helicopter in D.C.
Trump appointed Christopher Rocheleau as performing FAA commissioner at some point after the crash, which left 67 folks useless.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., despatched Musk a letter final week questioning his function in Whitaker’s resignation.
In a letter shared later Thursday, Cantwell requested Duffy to “make it possible for all conflicts of curiosity between the FAA and Elon Musk are eliminated.”
Cantwell wrote to Duffy that in their most up-to-date dialog, “You didn’t focus on your intention to contain Elon Musk within the FAA’s security methods or course of.”
“It’s a battle of curiosity for somebody whose firm is regulated by the federal authorities to be concerned in something that impacts his private monetary curiosity, his firm or his opponents,” the senator wrote.
Cantwell additionally famous that Whitaker had been unanimously confirmed by the Senate.
— CNBC’s Leslie Josephs contributed to this report.