Musk’s pivot to U.S. airspace reform raises new conflict-of-interest concerns

Elon Musk’s involvement in the Trump administration’s airspace reform plan has quickly spurred calls to bar the Tesla and SpaceX leader from those efforts over his alleged conflicts of interest. U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said Wednesday he spoke with Musk — who also leads President Donald Trump’s government-shrinking group DOGE — in the wake of a deadly plane crash above Washington, D.C., last week. “We’re going to remake our airspace, and we’re going to do it quickly,” Duffy said after praising Musk as a “pretty remarkable guy” with “access to the best technological people, the best engineers in the world.” Duffy later Wednesday wrote on Musk’s social media site X that DOGE is “going to plug in to help upgrade our aviation system.” Musk replied, “With the support of President @realDonaldTrump, the @DOGE team will aim to make rapid safety upgrades to the air traffic control system.” But Sen. Maria Cantwell, the top Democrat on the committee that oversees air traffic control, said that Musk should not be allowed anywhere near those reform efforts. “It’s a clear conflict of interest,” Cantwell told reporters Thursday. The senator from Washington state said Musk has been “fined for violations.” She was referencing the Federal Aviation Administration proposing $633,000 in civil penalties against SpaceX last year over the company’s alleged failures to follow licensing rules during two rocket launches in 2023.<br/>