Elon Musk’s DOGE to investigate ‘strangely wealthy’ Congress members. Who’s at risk?

Elon Musk, the world’s richest man and CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, at a recent town hall in Wisconsin, announced that his team at the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) would be investigating how certain members of Congress have become “strangely wealthy” despite their relatively modest public salaries.

Focus on "Strangely Wealthy" Congress members

Elon Musk, addressing a crowd of approximately 2,000 attendees, commented on the wealth disparities among some lawmakers: "How'd they get $20 million if they're earning $200,000 a year? Nobody can explain that. We’re going to try to figure it out, and certainly stop it from happening."

Alleged circuitous route

Musk expanded on his suspicions about the financial activities of certain politicians, alleging that money may be funneled through complex networks before reaching the pockets of lawmakers. He speculated that funds sent by the US Agency for International Development (USAID) to NGOs overseas could ultimately be redirected back to the US and enrich politicians.

During the town hall, one attendee asked Musk if DOGE had found any evidence of funds being transferred from the US Agency for International Development (USAID) to Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.), Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY).

“They’ll send the money overseas to one NGO, then they’ll go through a bunch of them...and I’m highly confident that a bunch of that money then comes back to the United States and lands in the pockets of the people you just mentioned.”

Musk's political activities in Wisconsin

During his Wisconsin visit, Musk also threw his support behind conservative judge Brad Schimel in the highly competitive race for the state’s Supreme Court. In a show of support, Musk gave away $1 million in cheques to local voters who signed his petition opposing “activist judges.” He stated,

“The reason for the checks is that it’s really just to get attention...and somewhat inevitably, when I do these things, it causes the legacy media to kind of lose their minds.”

Legal challenges and controversies

Musk’s actions have not gone without legal challenges. Before the town hall began, a Wisconsin court decided not to block Musk’s financial giveaways. His legal team argued that the giveaways were a form of free speech and intended to generate grassroots opposition to what Musk views as “activist judges,” not to explicitly influence elections.