Dozens of lobbyists are playing both sides of the fence by representing Elon Musk-associated companies and the cities, transit agencies, and climate philanthropies that he and DOGE are actively undermining, a new analysis finds — and some advocates believe that if those firms drop their billionaire client, it could reduce his political influence in Washington.
In a bombshell new report, lobbying accountability group F Minus named hundreds of organizations that share a lobbying firm with at least one of the companies owned by the South African scion — including the automaker Tesla.
That list includes transit agencies like the Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority, more than 40 city governments in California alone — including Los Angeles and San Francisco — and several key climate philanthropies such as the Resources Legacy Foundation, the New Venture Fund, and Pew Charitable Trusts, among many others.
F minus Executive Director James Browning said that means firms are being paid to boost mass transit one day and support mass automobility the next — and as the Department of Government Efficiency’s attacks on public transit grow in scope, those conflicts of interest are growing even more impossible to square, especially when it comes to the environment.
“They’re basically playing both sides of the climate crisis,” Browning said in an interview with Streetsblog. “There are even instances where they’re pushing for environmental bills on behalf of these clients — [which are meant to address] issues that have been caused by their other clients.”
‘An ethical wasteland’
Browning explains that unlike lawyers, who are barred from serving as both prosecution and defense on the same case, weak laws in many states allow lobbying firms to represent the interests of clients on all sides of an issue — even when those interests are directly opposed.
And because Elon Musk was once regarded as an environmentalist — especially by those who under-estimated all the other environmental harms of mass automobility beyond tailpipe emissions, even when cars are electric — many organizations didn’t blink to see his companies’ names on lobbying firm’s rosters when they were making decisions about who to hire.
Now that Musk’s harmful agenda is out in the open, though, many states still don’t require lobbyists to disclose conflicts of interest that might arise from having the Hyperloop-booster on their client list — which means some city and green groups may not even know that their supposed champions are batting for both teams.
And since one of those teams is helmed by the richest man in the world, some advocates worry lobbyists have a strong financial incentive to give his policy priorities preferential treatment.
“These lobbying firms are operating in an ethical wasteland, with no constraints at all,” Browning adds. “So this is why it’s so important to get this data out, to tell these stories — and for people who hire these firms to think about the conflicts that they may have, and how they may actually be harming their own interests and constituents by working with these firms.”
Browning argues, though, that most groups that battle DOGE can’t afford to forgo lobbyists entirely, since many state and federal legislators lean heavily on them to help write legislation about the many topics on which they’re not experts — especially when politicians are “so self centered and capricious because of their ambition for higher office that they’re not necessarily the best and most reliable advocates” for any specific cause.
In states with strict government term limits, meanwhile, even the best lawmakers don’t have time to learn the ins and outs of complex topics like transportation before they’re forced out of office.
“The lobbyists end up running the show — because by the time a legislator actually has some expertise, it’s time for them to leave,” he adds.
‘Don’t let him hide behind lobbyists’
Someday, the Musk name might be considered so nuclear that lobbying firms will pre-emptively drop any company that has anything to do with him — something Browning says has already happened to oil companies after green clients called out firms for accepting their dirty money.
And, to be fair, Musk’s corporations have grown significantly less dependent on lobbyists as the CEO has gained the direct ear of the president — so much so that public interest advocates like Revolving Door’s Jeff Hauser have said that “in many ways, [Musk] is [a lobbyist]” himself.
But as Musk falls out of favor in Washington and his “sleepovers and late night ice cream” at the White House come to an end, Browning says lobbyists may once again play a major role in powering Musk’s political influence machine — and that means it’s the perfect time to push back against double-dipping.
In the long term, that could look like strengthening state ethics laws that govern how lobbyists work, forcing them to at least disclose conflicts of interest to clients whose work is in direct opposition.
In the short term, though, Browning says advocates should demand that cities, transit agencies, climate groups, and anyone else that shares a lobbying firm with Musk stand up and exert their collective power, by calling on those firms to drop the DOGE-associated enterprises they help normalize and empower — or else lose the rest of their client list.
“If you’re alarmed about Musk and DOGE, don’t let him hide behind his lobbyists,” Browning adds. “Tesla is toxic right now, and [Musk] is going to try to fix that by hiring Democratically aligned lobbying firms in progressive states like California, Colorado, New York, Massachusetts, to try to repair the damage. So don’t let him. He has shown his cards; he’s shown what he’s capable of with Trump, and he can be held accountable. Firing a lobbying firm that works for Tesla will get their attention, and it’s an important way of pushing back on what DOGE and Trump are doing.”
