New York — Elon Musk once claimed he would save U.S. taxpayers trillions through a self-styled initiative called the Department of Government Efficiency — better known as DOGE. The name, a tongue-in-cheek nod to the meme cryptocurrency he once championed, started with lofty savings goals: first $2 trillion, then $1 trillion, and eventually scaled back to just $150 billion.
But according to a scathing new Senate investigation, the only substantial savings Musk may have secured are for himself — not taxpayers.
A report released Monday by Democrats on the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations (PSI), chaired by Senator Richard Blumenthal, details that as of the 2025 inauguration of former President Donald Trump, Musk’s constellation of companies faced at least $2.37 billion in potential liabilities. These stemmed from 65 ongoing or threatened federal enforcement actions across 11 different agencies.
The subcommittee concluded that while the $2.37 billion estimate is already staggering, it is also a conservative figure. The report argues that Musk may be reaping far greater advantages through diminished legal oversight, reduced accountability, and diminished transparency in his current quasi-governmental role.
From Enforcement to Evasion
The investigations covered a wide range of issues — from EEOC probes into racial harassment at Tesla, to SEC scrutiny of Neuralink’s financial disclosures, and most notably, a Department of Justice (DOJ) criminal investigation into Tesla’s marketing of its Autopilot and Full Self-Driving (FSD) systems. Tesla has since rebranded the software to “Full Self-Driving (Supervised)” in response to mounting criticism about misleading advertising and safety concerns.
However, since the implementation of DOGE within federal agencies under the Trump administration, many of these probes have either stalled or vanished entirely.
A particularly telling example cited in the Senate report involved a DOJ discrimination lawsuit against SpaceX, which was dropped in February. The case could have cost Musk’s space venture up to $46 million in civil penalties.
Democratic lawmakers allege this pattern is no accident. They claim DOGE was designed to dismantle or silence the very regulatory bodies tasked with holding Musk’s empire accountable.
“By design, the stunning breadth and magnitude of gains Musk is accruing from his current role may never be known, and that is by design. The silence is strategic, and it is dangerous”, the Senate report concluded.
Tesla’s Growing Troubles
Even as Musk appears to be dodging regulatory penalties, Tesla itself is veering into troubled terrain.
The DOJ’s probe into the FSD program, which launched in 2022, expanded to examine whether Tesla defrauded both the public and investors by exaggerating the software’s capabilities dating back to 2016. In 2024 alone, Tesla raked in $596 million from FSD subscriptions — a figure that could double in potential fraud penalties if the DOJ were to pursue the case.
However, the likelihood of enforcement appears slim. Rolling Stone reported that under current Attorney General Pam Bondi, Trump’s DOJ seems more focused on prosecuting individuals accused of damaging Tesla property — labeling them as “domestic terrorists” — rather than pursuing Musk or his companies.
Meanwhile, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is still investigating Tesla for persistent safety issues, including steering failures, brake malfunctions, unintended acceleration, and concerns about whether a previous Autopilot recall effectively addressed systemic flaws.
Financial Decline and Market Headwinds
Tesla’s recent earnings report painted a bleak picture. Quarterly profits plummeted by 71% year-over-year, and the company remained solvent largely due to sales of carbon credits to rival automakers. The automaker is also losing market share as competitors like Waymo begin to roll out robotaxi fleets in major cities.
Additionally, Tesla’s brand appeal is taking a hit among progressive consumers who have distanced themselves from Musk due to his increasingly political and controversial public persona.
Amid mounting pressure, Musk announced on Tesla’s most recent earnings call that he would scale back his involvement with DOGE to refocus on Tesla’s operations. He teased a pilot robotaxi service in Austin launching this June featuring modified Model Y vehicles. This comes despite his earlier claims about a specialized “Cybercab” last fall.
As is characteristic of Musk, he made a bold prediction:
“There will be millions of Teslas driving autonomously — fully autonomously — in the second half of next year”.
“Tesla will take 90-something percent of the rideshare market”.
With legal clouds looming and Tesla’s financial engine sputtering, such promises may need more than regulatory shelter to come true.
