Billionaire Elon Musk is reportedly planning advocate cutting federal government agencies and regulations to help his companies, via the power that former President Trump has promised him and billionaire Vivek Ramaswamy as leaders of the new Department of Government Efficiency in 2025, notes Business insider.
Musk, who donated $119 million to a pro-Trump spending group, wants to protect his companies from regulation or enforcement, according to Reuters interviews with six Musk-company sources and two government officials with extensive interactions with Musk companies:
“Elon Musk sees all regulations as getting in the way of his businesses and innovation,” said one former top SpaceX official who spoke on condition of anonymity. “He sees the Trump administration as the vehicle for getting rid of as many regulations as he can, so he can do whatever he wants, as fast as he wants.”
…For Tesla, Musk’s goals include getting the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), its primary federal safety regulator, to hold off on potential enforcement actions involving the safety of Tesla’s current driver-assistance systems, called “Autopilot” and “Full Self-Driving,” according to a person familiar with the matter. Musk’s “primary focus over the next four years,” the person said, would be “de-enforcement.”
Musk, the source said, could also push for favorable regulation of autonomous vehicles and robotaxis that Tesla plans. For his new artificial intelligence startup xAI, Musk could shape nascent rules or a new agency, the person said.
…At his brain-implant startup Neuralink, Musk has long complained that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval process has slowed the firm from implanting the device in humans. Musk could use his rising clout in a Trump administration to cut through some of the safety-related approvals in that process, according to a source familiar with the company’s operations.
Musk has long expressed frustration about the FDA’s pace. Some Neuralink employees are considering the prospect that Musk, if he becomes Trump’s “efficiency” chief, could get FDA officials he deems inefficient fired, said a person familiar with the matter.
…Musk’s designs on setting up a lax regulatory environment come as his companies already face fewer regulatory requirements and softer enforcement of current federal rules, according to the six Musk company sources familiar with his regulatory dealings and political strategy.
…A Reuters investigation last year documented at least 600 worker injuries at SpaceX facilities nationwide and found that Musk’s rocket company disregarded safety regulations and standard practices. Worker injury rates at SpaceX facilities also continued to exceed an industry average last year, according to a Reuters review of safety data.
Neither NASA nor OSHA, which regulates worker safety, has taken any significant enforcement action against SpaceX over worker injuries and related reporting violations. NASA declined to comment on Musk’s potential influence after Trump’s election.
Musk has nonetheless excoriated the government for trying to enforce the rules even as his company has moved faster than competitors. In an interview before the election, he described federal enforcement as overly harsh and said he aimed to get rid of “insane” regulations.
…One former SpaceX official cautioned that taking a lax regulatory attitude in a sector as dangerous as rocket-building “could blow up in everyone’s face and set back the industry for a decade.”
(Source: Reuters, Reuters, Business insider)