Elon Musk, who spent nearly $500 million backing Republicans in Tuesday’s U.S. congressional elections, may be one of their biggest losers, Reuters reported Wednesday. A Democratic victory raises the risk of investigations into his companies and of limits on their investments.
Democrats took control of both chambers of Congress. In Texas, home to the headquarters of Musk’s companies, Tesla and SpaceX, a Democrat, Gina Hinojosa, was elected governor, the first from her party in more than 30 years.
According to Reuters, Democrats could open investigations into government contracts and subsidies for Musk’s businesses, as well as his work leading DOGE, the Department of Government Efficiency, the body responsible for cutting federal spending.
Investigators could also look into the restrictions Musk placed on the Ukrainian military’s use of Starlink, the satellite system owned by SpaceX.
Robert Garcia, who is set to chair the House Oversight Committee, warned Republicans and their allies on Tuesday: “Hire lawyers.”
Limits on the construction of artificial intelligence data centers, which consume enormous amounts of energy, could pose a particular threat to Musk’s business empire.
The new Texas governor has pledged to halt construction of additional such facilities until safeguards for local communities are put in place, and to end tax breaks for them. She also opposes plans to expand the SpaceX complex at Boca Chica at the expense of state park land.
Musk commented on X about the prospect of limits on data centers, writing: “Data centers in space are starting to look pretty attractive.” He also deleted an earlier post urging people to vote for Republicans. (PAP)
