Trump Enables Musk Conflicts Of Interest And Endangers Public Identity Theft

 

This is from the Economic Policy Institute.

Summary: 

• By removing certain ethical requirements for civil servants, appointing billionaire Elon Musk as a “special government employee,” and granting DOGE unprecedented access to sensitive government data, Trump has created multiple avenues for Musk and his team to exploit their political positions for their own personal gain.
• There is no evidence of Musk filing ethics forms or addressing any potential conflicts of interest since his appointment as a civil servant. Trump said that Musk will identify his own conflicts, which is in and of itself a conflict.
• Musk and DOGE team members—who are working in government despite having clear private sector interests—now have unprecedented access to nonpublic data that is highly valued in the burgeoning data broker industry. Even if their data access yielded just 10% of the market insights provided by that data broker industry, it would be worth $43.4 billion.
• If Musk leveraged his access and influence to double the value of federal contracts awarded to his companies, he would capture $23.6 billion in federal spending.
• Musk and DOGE’s unrestrained and careless access to sensitive data like Social Security numbers will no doubt exacerbate the problem of identity theft in the United States. If current victimization rates doubled, identity theft would affect 50 million people and cost them $39.4 billion annually. 

  Conclusion

  Trump’s removal of certain ethical standards for federal service, his establishment of DOGE, and his appointment of Elon Musk as a special government employee have not only created opportunities for Musk and others to personally profit from public service, but have also increased the risks of U.S. individuals having their personal data mishandled or their identity stolen. Trump has allowed Musk and DOGE unprecedented access to personal and proprietary information across multiple federal agencies that could be enormously beneficial to Musk’s business dealings.

  Elon Musk, as a special government employee, should have filed multiple ethics forms, received briefings, and worked to address all conflicts, whether by recusing himself or divesting from certain assets. Instead, Trump stated that Musk will identify his own conflicts—a conflict of interest, in and of itself—and there is no evidence from the White House that he has filed any ethics forms. Further, Congressional Republicans have blocked attempts for oversight of DOGE and Musk (Nihill 2025). The guardrails that are usually in place to protect the public from compromised government decision-makers have been removed or disregarded to allow the richest man in the history of the world to influence U.S. government policy. All of this while Musk could potentially profit from access to personal data and federal contracts and potentially cost working people in the U.S. $39.4 billion annually in personal losses related to identity theft if data is mishandled.