Elon Musk’s “department of government efficiency” (Doge) and the Trump administration have spared the jobs of US Department of Transportation employees who provide support services for spacecraft launches by Musk’s companies, SpaceX and Starlink – a revelation that raises a new round of conflict of interest questions around Doge.
In its most recent buyout announcement, the transportation department did not note that the positions spared supported Musk’s and others’ space operations.
But the fiscal year 2025 transportation department budget reviewed by the Guardian details funding for positions in pipeline management, transportation management, air traffic control and cybersecurity that the document states are critical for commercial space operations, including SpaceX, Starlink and other entities.
The decision to keep launch support staff employed while broadly cutting potentially thousands of other positions at the agency has raised fresh ethical questions about Musk and Doge’s aggressive assault on the federal workforce.
While the administration and Doge have targeted hundreds of thousands of federal employees, critics say the decision shows Musk is willing to allow federal workers to remain employed if their work benefits him.
Keeping these employees on the payroll is “showing Musk’s bias because cutting these people would create so many hindrances to him launching”, said a former congressional staffer and current space industry employee who requested anonymity.
“It’s really weird those people were spared. If I had to read between the lines, I would say this is on purpose because Musk knows these positions support the space industry.”
The conflict of interest controversy is the latest in a series for Musk. In his quest to slash the federal government’s workforce of 2.3m people by 75%, he has allegedly steered lucrative contracts to his companies, or hobbled agencies or departments that he could potentially take over and profit from.
In other cases, he has attempted to kill departments or agencies that regulate his businesses, like the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau.
The latest iteration of a Doge conflict of interest is “completely unsurprising”, said Lisa Gilbert, co-president of Public Citizen, a government transparency advocacy group.
“Certainly giving someone who’s that interconnected in government a huge amount of carte blanche power to change the way government is structured is problematic, damaging, bad for American taxpayers, and beneficial to Musk’s bottom line,” Gilbert added.
SpaceX and the transportation department did not respond to a comment request.
The transportation department has a workforce of about 57,000, and about 800 probationary employees were reportedly fired in March. On 1 April, the administration sent buyout letters urging more to quit in exchange for pay and benefits through 30 September. It is unclear how many were asked to leave, and “involuntary layoffs” are expected for many who stay.
Among the fiscal year 2025 transportation department budget line items that show support for SpaceX and other companies were $21m and 38 full-time positions for the office of commercial space transportation. That in part includes air traffic control in the Federal Aviation Administration “to manage increased airspace complexities associated with enhanced space operations”.
SpaceX and Starlink launch multiple spacecraft weekly, and the air traffic controllers ensure that commercial aircraft and spacecraft don’t collide.
The former congressional staffer noted that many previous FAA budget increase requests were made because of pressure to keep up with the higher number of SpaceX launches – about 80% of agency overtime has been attributed to supporting SpaceX.
The budget items detailed don’t just support Musk or other private space companies – Nasa and the military are served by them, as well. However, Musk has called for cuts to space programs at Nasa and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration that don’t serve his needs.
“It is true that we need air traffic controllers, and it is true that we have a shortage of them, but they are also critical for space launches,” the former congressional staffer and space industry employee said. “The truth is hiding under the truth.”
Meanwhile, the budget shows $400m to fund the US Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, which manages the movement of fuel and other supplies for launching.
It supports the administration’s “growing oversight responsibilities to ensure the safe transport of hazardous materials, including a significant increase in the market for transporting energy products, high value equipment that contains hazardous materials such as spacecraft, and other items that are essential to the US economy”, the document states.
The budget continues to say the department will “set safety standards and continue to perform safety inspections … for the transport of space equipment and products via truck and air”.
The former congressional staffer and space industry employee said the department may shut down highways when spacecraft or highly flammable material is being transported.
An $81m line item within the PHMSA budget also notes funding for adding staff to support the growing space industry.
The new staff would “manage a growing special permits and approvals workload including the transportation of high value hazardous materials containing products bound for outer space, and a rapidly growing outer space economy”.
The DOT also stressed that it is sparing those employees who work on cybersecurity. Though this is a broad category that applies to all facets of the agency, Musk’s systems used by the US government are protected by this.
Gilbert said Public Citizen is supporting legislation introduced by Senator Elizabeth Warren that would strengthen rules around conflicts of interest for people like Musk who are classified by an administration as a “special government employee”.
“It’s a challenging moment and not what anyone wants to see – this individual amassing power without the checks put upon people who serve in government,” Gilbert said.
