Elon Musk is a person that forces us to ask the timeless query first put to us by graphic novelist Alan Moore; who watches the watchers? The New York Instances as a fantastic breakdown of all of the injury this overpowered and over-wealthy particular person might have ought to Trump each take the White Home and preserve his promise to place his rich donor ready of energy.
Musk is essentially the most rich particular person on the planet — most likely in all of human historical past — which already offers him an virtually limitless quantity of energy. He’s additionally had a ton of run-ins with regulatory our bodies, from the Securities and Change Fee to the Environmental Safety Company and now the Nationwide Freeway Security Administration. Now that he’s full-throat backing Trump nonetheless, even the weak federal checks on his machinations might quickly go by the wayside:
Elon Musk’s affect over the federal authorities is extraordinary, and terribly profitable.
Mr. Musk’s rocket firm, SpaceX, successfully dictates NASA’s rocket launch schedule. The Protection Division depends on him to get most of its satellites to orbit. His firms have been promised $3 billion throughout practically 100 completely different contracts final 12 months with 17 federal companies.
His entanglements with federal regulators are additionally quite a few and adversarial. His firms have been focused in a minimum of 20 current investigations or evaluations, together with over the security of his Tesla vehicles and the environmental injury attributable to his rockets.
Given Mr. Musk’s immense enterprise footprint, he might be a significant participant irrespective of who wins the election.
However he has thrown his fortune and energy behind former President Donald J. Trump and, in return, Mr. Trump has vowed to make Mr. Musk head of a brand new “authorities effectivity fee” with the ability to advocate wide-ranging cuts at federal companies and adjustments to federal guidelines.
That might primarily give the world’s richest man and a significant authorities contractor the ability to control the regulators who maintain sway over his firms, amounting to a probably monumental battle of curiosity.
Via a evaluation of courtroom filings, regulatory dockets and authorities contracting knowledge, The New York Instances has compiled an accounting of Mr. Musk’s multipronged enterprise preparations with the federal authorities, in addition to the violations, fines, consent decrees and different inquiries federal companies have ordered towards his firms. Collectively, they present a deep internet of relationships: As an alternative of coming into this new position as a impartial observer, Mr. Musk could be passing judgment on his personal clients and regulators.
NASA, the Departments of Protection, the Inside, Transportation, Commerce, Homeland Safety — the man is a major drive in all of those and extra already. Ought to Trump win, an unelected Musk may acquire the flexibility to squash anybody who may stand in his method. His outsized affect is already inflicting issues:
One such instance was the check launch this month of Starship, SpaceX’s latest rocket. NASA has agreed to pay the corporate as a lot as $4.4 billion to take astronauts to the floor of the moon on two future missions — though the dates will rely upon when all of the tools is prepared. To this point, Starship has not flown any people.
However the Federal Aviation Administration held up this most up-to-date check launch for weeks, partly due to questions on hurt SpaceX has triggered to wildlife close to its Texas launch web site, a delay that infuriated Mr. Musk.
“We proceed to be caught in a actuality the place it takes longer to do the federal government paperwork to license a rocket launch than it does to design and construct the precise {hardware},” SpaceX mentioned in a press release.
This wouldn’t be the primary time {that a} wealthy particular person tried to get their palms on the levers of energy within the U.S. with out profitable an election. In 1933, the Enterprise Plot would have seen rich businessmen overthrow president Franklin D. Roosevelt and set up a Nazi-friendly navy dictatorship, as an illustration.
Regardless of who you might be voting for, handing any single particular person this a lot energy is a horrible concept. Head over to the New York Instances to learn extra.
