Lawmakers previously requested information from Acting CFPB Director Russell Vought, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, and Acting OGE Director Secretary Doug Collins
Washington, D.C. — U.S. Senators Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Ranking Member of the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee, sent a letter to the CFPB Inspector General Mark Bialek calling for an investigation into potential ethics violations by Elon Musk and other officials from the so-called “Department of Government Efficiency” (DOGE) following their efforts to dismantle the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB).
The Senators detail how Musk—who serves as a senior advisor to President Trump and leads DOGE—may have leveraged his government role to benefit his personal business interests, including his ownership of X and Tesla.
“The CFPB plays a critical role in supervising the auto lending industry and protecting consumers from corporate malfeasance and scams. Therefore, actions by Mr. Musk and DOGE at the CFPB have the potential to directly benefit X, Visa, and Tesla—and by extension, Mr. Musk,” wrote the lawmakers.
In the letter, Schiff and Warren highlight that federal ethics laws apply to Musk in his role as a special government employee, including conflict-of-interest statutes that prohibit government employees from taking actions that financially benefit them or their businesses, and that Mr. Musk may have violated these rules. Despite repeated requests, the Trump Administration has failed to provide any transparency about the legal basis for DOGE’s activities or Musk’s compliance with ethics laws.
“[I]f Mr. Musk has taken actions in his federal role that will benefit his financial interests without receiving appropriate waivers and approvals, he may have violated the criminal conflict of interest statute. Special government employees are also subject to the ‘Standards of Ethical Conduct for Employees of the Executive Branch.’”
The Senators continued: “The CFPB OIG plays a critical role in overseeing the CFPB’s compliance with federal laws and agency policies, including investigations of “ethics violations or conflicts of interest” and “employee misconduct.” Therefore, we ask the CFPB to conduct a review of Mr. Musk and DOGE officials’ actions taken at CFPB since January 20, 2025 to determine whether or not these actions complied with all relevant federal ethics laws, regulations, reporting requirements, and agency policies, procedures, and norms.”
Senators Schiff and Warren are demanding a full investigation into Musk’s and DOGE officials’ conduct, including whether they obtained ethics waivers, received conflict-of-interest guidance, or improperly accessed CFPB data that could benefit Musk’s business ventures.
Read the full text of the letter here.
Dear Inspector General Bialek:
On February 19, 2025, we asked Acting Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) Russell Vought and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to provide us with information regarding the compliance of billionaire Elon Musk and other “Department of Government Efficiency” (DOGE) employees with federal ethics laws as part of their campaign to dismantle the CFPB.1 Acting Director Vought and Secretary Bessent failed to respond. We then asked Secretary Doug Collins, the Acting Director of the Office of Government Ethics (OGE), to conduct a review of Mr. Musk’s and DOGE’s actions at the CFPB.2 Acting Director Collins also failed to respond. Therefore, we write to ask the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Office of Inspector General (CFPB OIG) to determine whether Mr. Musk and other DOGE officials have complied with all federal ethics laws, regulations, reporting requirements, and agency policies, procedures, and norms relating to their positions as government employees or special government employees.
As you know, Mr. Musk is a “senior advisor to the president” who has served as the public face of DOGE, an office organized within the Executive Office of the President.3 On February 6, 2025, DOGE officials reportedly entered CFPB headquarters and requested access to sensitive CFPB information, including internal staff records, competitive industry data, and personally identifiable consumer information.4 One day later, on February 7, 2025, Mr. Musk tweeted “ CFPB RIP”.5 These efforts followed a stop-work order issued by then-Acting CFPB Director Scott Bessent on February 3, 2025.6 Since then, the new Acting CFPB Director Russell Vought has issued further stop work orders, fired hundreds of CFPB employees, and refused to draw down funds to support the agency’s work from the Federal Reserve for Q2 2025.7
In addition to his role as head of DOGE, Mr. Musk is the primary owner of the social media company X. Since purchasing X, Mr. Musk has considered expanding the social media platform into digital payments.8 On January 28, X announced a partnership with Visa to process peer-to-peer payments and launch a digital wallet.9 Notably, the CFPB has taken steps in recent years to protect consumers from fraud on digital payment apps10 and collects proprietary information from the digital payment industry.11 Mr. Musk is also the founder and CEO of Tesla, which offers customers the option of working with Tesla to finance their auto purchases.12 The CFPB plays a critical role in supervising the auto lending industry and protecting consumers from corporate malfeasance and scams.13 Therefore, actions by Mr. Musk and DOGE at the CFPB have the potential to directly benefit X, Visa, and Tesla—and by extension, Mr. Musk.
Mr. Musk is serving as a “special government employee,” meaning that he is subject to a series of conflict-of-interest laws designed to prevent government officials from enriching themselves at the expense of taxpayers.14 Specifically, 18 U.S.C. § 208 prohibits special government employees from participating “personally and substantially” in any “decision, approval, disapproval, recommendation, the rendering of advice, investigation… judicial or other proceeding, application, request for a ruling or other determination, contract, claim, controversy, charge, accusation, arrest, or other particular matter” that would have a “direct and predictable effect” on his or her financial interests.15 Therefore, if Mr. Musk has taken actions in his federal role that will benefit his financial interests without receiving appropriate waivers and approvals, he may have violated the criminal conflict of interest statute. Special government employees are also subject to the “Standards of Ethical Conduct for Employees of the Executive Branch.”16 DOGE employees are also subject to federal conflicts of interest laws.
The CFPB OIG plays a critical role in overseeing the CFPB’s compliance with federal laws and agency policies, including investigations of “ethics violations or conflicts of interest” and “employee misconduct.”17 Therefore, we ask the CFPB to conduct a review of Mr. Musk and DOGE officials’ actions taken at CFPB since January 20, 2025 to determine whether or not these actions complied with all relevant federal ethics laws, regulations, reporting requirements, and agency policies, procedures, and norms. Specifically, we ask that your investigation address the following questions:
- What specific actions did Mr. Musk take on or after January 20, 2025, to influence activities at the CFPB? What specific actions did DOGE officials take on or after January 20, 2025, to influence activities at the CFPB?
- What specific federal ethics laws, regulations, reporting requirements, and ethics-related agency policies, procedures, and norms is Mr. Musk subject to as it relates to his work with the CFPB? What specific federal ethics laws, regulations, reporting requirements, and ethics-related agency policies, procedures, and norms are DOGE officials subject to in their work at the CFPB?
- What guidance, if any, have Mr. Musk and DOGE officials been provided by CFPB officials regarding compliance with federal ethics laws, regulations, reporting requirements, and ethics-related agency policies, procedures, and norms? If applicable, when was this guidance provided? Please provide copies of all relevant guidance and communications and preserve all relevant records.
- What recusal or other measures have been put in place to ensure that DOGE or DOGE affiliated officials, including Mr. Musk, cannot access information that would present conflicts?
- What contact, if any, have CFPB officials had with OGE regarding Mr. Musk’s work at the CFPB and his compliance with federal ethics laws? Please provide any written communications between the CFPB and OGE regarding Mr. Musk and preserve all relevant records and communications.
- What contact, if any, have officials at the Treasury Department had with OGE regarding Mr. Musk’s work at the CFPB and his compliance with federal ethics laws? Please provide any written communications between the Treasury Department and OGE regarding Mr. Musk and preserve all relevant records and communications.
- What contact, if any, have officials at CFPB had with OGE regarding other DOGE or DOGE-affiliated officials’ work at the CFPB and their compliance with federal ethics laws? Please provide any written communications between the CFPB and OGE regarding DOGE employees and preserve all relevant records and communications.
- What contact, if any, have officials at the Treasury Department had with OGE regarding other DOGE or DOGE-affiliated officials’ work at the CFPB and their compliance with federal ethics laws? Please provide any written communications between the Treasury Department and OGE regarding DOGE or DOGE-affiliated employees and preserve all relevant records and communications.
- Have any ethics waivers been issued to Mr. Musk to address his conflicts of interest, including any conflicts arising from his position and ownership interest in X, his position and ownership interest in Tesla, and from his DOGE-related work at the CFPB, including any waivers issued under 18 U.S.C. § 208? Please provide copies of any ethics waivers issued and the date you were made aware of the waivers. If a written waiver has been provided exempting Mr. Musk from the penalties set forth in 18 U.S.C. § 208, please clarify whether the waivers were issued pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 208(b)(1) or (b)(3).
- Have any ethics waivers been issued to DOGE employees to address conflicts of interest involving DOGE-related work at the CFPB, including any waivers issued under 18 U.S.C. § 208 or the Standards of Ethical Conduct Applicable to Executive Branch Employees? Please provide copies of any ethics waivers issued and the date you were made aware of the waivers.
- Did any violations of federal ethics laws, regulations, reporting requirements, and agency policies, procedures, and norms take place? If so, what corrective action, if any, was taken?
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