Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) urged Secretary of State Marco Rubio to explain the department’s plan to purchase $400 million in armored Tesla Cybertruck vehicles, calling out tech billionaire Elon Musk’s “glaring conflict of interests.”
In a letter to Rubio Thursday, Blumenthal sought information on the steps the State Department has taken to address concerns surrounding Musk’s involvement in the purchase.
“In the 15 months since it was released, the Cybertruck has been widely derided and subject to at least six separate recalls,” he said.
“Indeed, Tesla has reportedly had ‘disastrous’ sales numbers for the Cybertruck. It hardly seems like the type of reliable vehicle the State Department would choose for this contract absent a heavy thumb on the scale,” the letter reads.
“In the weeks since DOGE was established, it has run roughshod over the Constitution, dismantling agencies on a whim based on inaccurate information while gaining access to the government’s most sensitive systems,” Blumenthal wrote in his letter to Rubio, referring Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
“Unsurprisingly, many of the agencies Mr. Musk’s DOGE seeks to dismantle or weaken are the same ones that were previously investigating his myriad business interests,” he added.
The senator noted there are conflicting reports regarding when this decision was made, adding, “This planned purchase highlights the profound conflicts of interest issues inherent in Elon Musk’s continued service in the dual roles of Chief Executive Officer of Tesla, Inc., and head of the Department of Government Efficiency.”
Blumenthal said he wrote to Musk’s six companies and asked how much they may be benefiting from his role at DOGE.
Having begun a preliminary inquiry into Musk and his companies last week, the senator has sought a response to this latest letter by Feb. 21.
