Rep. Juan Vargas, Colleagues Ramp Up Pressure to Fire Elon Musk, Warn He Must by Law Leave Government Role by May 30th
WASHINGTON – U.S. Representative Juan Vargas (D-CA) joined over 70 Democratic lawmakers in demanding that Elon Musk exit from his position in the Trump Administration by May 30th, warning that by law he can only serve in his role as a special government employee for 130 days.
“Considering the repeated violations of the law by Musk and your administration, we demand an immediate public statement from your administration making clear that Musk will resign and surrender all decision making authority, as required by law, by May 30th,” the lawmakers wrote in a letter to President Donald Trump.
“In his short time in government, Elon Musk has done enormous harm to working Americans. Musk’s reckless destruction of government agencies has led to everything from seniors having challenges accessing Social Security to veterans losing access to care at VA hospitals,” the lawmakers continued. “While millions of Americans are suffering, Musk is continuing to enrich himself and break ethics laws.”
Read the full letter HERE and below:
President Trump,
We write to make clear that you must remove Elon Musk from his government position by May 30th and to demand that you stop ignoring federal law and ethics rules to empower an unelected billionaire. When you took office on January 20th, Musk became a special government employee (SGE), and, according to the law, Musk can only serve in this position for 130 days. Considering the repeated violations of the law by Musk and your administration, we demand an immediate public statement from your administration making clear that Musk will resign and surrender all decision making authority, as required by law, by May 30th.
In his short time in government, Elon Musk has done enormous harm to working Americans. Musk’s reckless destruction of government agencies has led to everything from seniors having challenges accessing Social Security to veterans losing access to care at VA hospitals.
While millions of Americans are suffering, Musk is continuing to enrich himself and break ethics laws. Musk continues to cut funds from programs that support working people, while his own companies continue to rake in more than $8 million per day in contracts and subsidies from the federal government. Recently, your administration changed the rules of a broadband program to give even more money to one of Musk’s companies.
Musk held a car show on the lawn of the White House, where he illegally promoted his company’s vehicles. Musk paid Wisconsin voters to support his preferred candidate in the state supreme court race. Any typical government employee would be held accountable for these actions, but Musk, who donated $277 million to your presidential campaign, has been allowed to keep his position of power in your White House.
Once Elon Musk is removed from his post, he may not legally return to the federal government this year without divesting from his companies, including Tesla and SpaceX. For the good of the country, Elon Musk should be removed from his position immediately. Under the law, Mr. Musk cannot remain in his position beyond May 30th.
###