WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ), along with Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), and House Oversight Committee Ranking Member Gerry Connolly (D-VA) and House Judiciary Committee Ranking Member Jamie Raskin (D-MD), led 38 Members of Congress in a letter to President Donald Trump, raising concerns about his unlawful firings of dozens of independent agency heads and inspectors general (IGs), and calling attention to how many of these firings appear to benefit Elon Musk. The Members also demand that President Trump remove Musk from his government role unless he addresses his conflicts of interest, and immediately reinstate the illegally fired individuals.
“Nearly all of your decisions you made about who to fire appear to benefit Mr. Musk, and many target individuals and agencies that are currently investigating or prosecuting Mr. Musk or his companies for unlawful behavior,” wrote the lawmakers. “Many of these individuals have legal protections dictating why and how they can be removed from office.”
Many of the firings appear to benefit Musk and his business interests. Musk and his companies were the subject of at least 20 recent government investigations or prosecutions, including for possible violations of federal safety and labor laws—until Musk dismantled those agencies. The lawmakers’ letter names several agency heads and watchdogs who were overseeing the investigations who and were improperly fired, including: NLRB Chair Gwynne Wilcox, FEC Chair Ellen Weintraub, EEOC Commissioners Jocelyn Samuels and Charlotte Burrow, and USDA Inspector General Phyllis Fong.
“Altogether, these firings either directly benefit Mr. Musk and his companies or remove guardrails that would hold them accountable to the rule of law,” the lawmakers continued.
Several of Trump’s orders violate the officials’ legal protections. For example, federal law requires the president to notify Congress 30 days before removing an inspector general, but Trump failed to do so before firing over a dozen IGs. He also didn’t provide the justification required to remove a leaders of independent agencies.
“The impacts are vast: in total, your removals of agency heads and career civil servants have affected at least eleven federal agencies with more than thirty-two ongoing investigations, complaints, or enforcement actions on Mr. Musk’s companies,” wrote the lawmakers.
The lawmakers warned that failing to hold Musk accountable hurts American citizens and threatens the democratic system of checks and balances.
“These firings have removed the exact individuals in our government who would hold Mr. Musk and his companies accountable for following the law and protect everyday Americans from threats to their health, welfare, safety, and economic well-being,” wrote the lawmakers.
“We urge you to immediately reinstate the illegally fired individuals and remove Mr. Musk from his government role unless he addresses his massive and glaring conflicts of interest as required by law,” concluded the lawmakers.
The letter is cosigned by U.S. Senators Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Martin Heinrich (D-NM), Ed Markey (D-MA), Alex Padilla (D-CA), Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Adam Schiff (D-CA), and Chris Van Hollen (D-MD).
In addition to co-leads House Oversight Committee Ranking Member Gerry Connolly (D-VA) and House Judiciary Committee Ranking Member Jamie Raskin (D-MD), the following Representatives signed on: Balint (D-VT), Beyer (D-VA), Brownley (D-CA), Clarke (D-NY), Cleaver (D-MO), Cohen (D-TN), Davis (D-IL), DeSaulnier (D-CA), García (D-IL), Garcia (D-CA), Grijalva (D-AZ), Johnson (D-GA), Kelly (D-IL), Khanna (D-CA), Lee (D-PA), Levin (D-CA), Matsui (D-CA), McIver (D-NJ), Moulton (D-MA), Norton (D-DC), Olszewski (D-MD), Ramirez (D-IL), Scanlon (D-PA), Schakowsky (D-IL), Stansbury (D-NM), Subramanyam (D-VA), Titus (D-NV), Tlaib (D-MI), Tokuda (D-HI), Tonko (D-NY), and Waters (D-CA).
To read the full text of the letter, click here.