House Dem Accuses Musk of Killing Initial Spending Deal to Protect His Investments In China, Musk Hits Back With AI Image
Democratic Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) accused Elon Musk of working to kill Speaker Mike Johnson’s (R-LA) initial bipartisan spending proposal because it would have regulated his investments in China.
DeLauro said in a statement Friday she “sent a letter to congressional leadership raising concerns that Elon Musk may have upended the government funding process to remove a provision that would regulate U.S. investments in China.” Her statement added:
“The four corners of the Appropriations Committee and Congressional leadership reached a government funding deal earlier this week that included a key provision that would screen U.S. investments in critical sectors in China,” said DeLauro. “Musk’s investments in China and his ties with the Chinese Community Party have only grown over the last few years with Tesla’s Shanghai plant producing about 50 percent of Tesla’s global automobile output. It is no surprise ‘President’ Musk does not want to see a funding deal containing this provision be signed into law.”
In the letter she wrote, “ It is particularly disturbing that Musk may have sought to upend this critical negotiated agreement to remove a bipartisan provision regulating U.S. investments in China in order to protect his wallet and the Chinese Communist Party at the expense of American workers, innovators, and businesses.”
Later in the letter, she added, “Given the need for Chinese government approvals for his company’s projects in the country, it is similarly unsurprising, yet concerning, that Musk has ingratiated himself with Chinese Communist Party leadership. In April of this year, for example, Musk met with Chinese premier Li Qiang, who helped rush the construction of Tesla’s Shanghai gigafactory when he was still the secretary of the city’s Communist Party.” DeLauro concluded by noting Musk’s long history of taking U.S. government subsidies to help build his company and personal wealth:
Musk’s ties to China, and Tesla’s significant investments in the country, are especially concerning in light of the significant U.S. federal, state, and local financial support Tesla and Musk’s other companies have received. From Fiscal Year (FY) 2000 to present, Tesla has received nearly $3 billion in taxpayer subsidies and more than $466 million in federal loans, and since 2008, the company has benefited from $41.9 million in federal contracts. Musk’s rocket company, SpaceX, received more than $100 million in federal loans and taxpayer subsidies since FY 2000, and has won nearly $19.8 billion in federal contracts since 2008. Some of those contracts include partnerships with U.S. government agencies to “work toward accelerating the knowledge and critical technology” needed to support further space travel. All told, according to federal contracting data, “Musk’s business deals with the government total nearly $20 billion” over the past 16 years.
Musk responded to DeLauro’s accusation by ridiculing the 81-year-old lawmaker’s appearance. Musk posted an AI-generated image of DeLauro as a kind of monster and wrote, “Turns out that Washington DC swamp creatures are real.”
Read DeLauro’s full statement here.
