Critics are pointing out the hypocrisy of billionaire Elon Musk's efforts to slash federal spending and personnel when he himself is a major beneficiary of the government's largesse, to the tune of over $10 billion dollars in federal contracts for his various companies over the past five years.
Meanwhile, Musk and representatives at the so-called Department of Government Efficiency—with the blessing of U.S. President Donald Trump—have infiltrated multiple federal agencies in service of carrying out punishing cuts. One DOGE's first victims was the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), the single largest provider of humanitarian assistance worldwide.
The hollowing out of USAID—which aid organizationswarn will have a "catastrophic impact" on children worldwide—is currently tied up in litigation. Separately, the administration has implemented a near-total freeze on foreign aid spending.
"While Elon Musk, the wealthiest man alive, is illegally denying food for the poorest children on Earth, SpaceX received another $38 million supplemental federal contract yesterday paid for by your taxes," wrote Warren Gunnels, a top adviser to U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), on Wednesday.
"Elon loves corporate welfare for himself, rugged individualism for the poor," he added.
Gunnels post appears to reference reporting from the Lever, which wrote Tuesday that Musk's aerospace firm SpaceX secured "a new 'supplemental' contract dated February 10 [that] adds $7.5 million to SpaceX's NASA work... The overall transaction obligated $38 million to Musk's company, as part of its overall deal with NASA."
Meanwhile, during the first meeting of the House Oversight Subcommittee on Delivering on Government Efficiency on Wednesday, Rep. Greg Casar (D-Texas) made comments in a similar vein.
"Last year, Elon Musk was promised $3 billion from close to 100 contracts with the federal government," said Casar, who went on to say that Musk makes "$8 million a day," referencing his federal contracts, while the average person in this country who receives Social Security has to make ends meet on $65 a day.
"When Republicans talk about government efficiency in this Congress, they're not looking into billionaires who don't pay their taxes, they're not looking into billionaires who get rich off of government contracts... They're looking at cutting your public schools, they're going straight for your Social Security, they're coming straight for cancer research," he said.
Casar also lambasted a draft budget resolution unveiled by House Republicans on Wednesday that calls for $4.5 trillion in tax breaks that would disproportionately benefit the wealthy, while proposing $2 trillion in cuts to Medicaid, federal nutrition assistance, and other programs.
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