March 26, 2025
Lawmakers previously requested information from Acting CFPB Director Russell Vought, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, and Acting OGE Director Secretary Doug Collins
Full letter here (PDF)
Washington, DC – Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Ranking Member of the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee, and Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), 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, Warren and Schiff 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 Warren and Schiff 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.
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