Elon Musk and SpaceX Repeatedly Fail to Comply with Federal Reporting Protocols
Elon Musk, the CEO of SpaceX, and his company have repeatedly failed to comply with federal reporting protocols aimed at protecting state secrets, including by not providing some details of his meetings with foreign leaders. This has triggered at least three federal reviews, according to people with knowledge of the efforts.
The Defense Department’s Office of Inspector General opened a review into the matter this year, and the Air Force and the Pentagon’s Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence and Security separately initiated reviews last month. The Air Force also recently denied Mr. Musk a high-level security access, citing potential security risks associated with the billionaire.
Concerns about SpaceX’s reporting practices have been raised internally by employees, who have complained to the Defense Department’s Office of Inspector General and other agencies about lax reporting, which goes back to at least 2021. Some employees have been fired or forced out for speaking up about the issue.
SpaceX was awarded at least $10 billion in federal contracts with the Pentagon and NASA from 2019 to 2023, making it a major contractor. As a result, the company is subject to strict security protocols to ensure the protection of sensitive information.
Mr. Musk is facing scrutiny as he wields increasing power around the world through his myriad businesses, including SpaceX, but also social media company X and electric carmaker Tesla. The stakes are arguably higher when it comes to national security matters.
It is unclear why Mr. Musk did not report some of the information to the government, especially since he sometimes posts about matters on social media that he does not relay to the Defense Department. It is also unclear if Mr. Musk instructed SpaceX to not report the information.
Senator Jeanne Shaheen, Democrat of New Hampshire and a member of the Senate Committees on Armed Services and Foreign Relations, has called for an investigation into Mr. Musk’s communications with foreign leaders, including President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia.
The issue of Mr. Musk’s compliance with security reporting rules is not isolated to SpaceX. Other governments have also raised concerns about his ability to handle classified information. Nine countries, including in Europe and the Middle East, have raised security questions about him in meetings with U.S. defense officers in the past three years, according to defense officials.
In response to the criticism, SpaceX executives have argued that the company has implemented measures to ensure compliance with security reporting rules. However, employees have reported feeling pressured not to speak up about concerns over lax reporting, and some have been fired or forced out for doing so.
The matter has taken on added importance as Mr. Musk becomes more influential in Washington. He was named last month to help lead an effort to winnow the federal bureaucracy, and has joined calls that President-elect Donald J. Trump has held with foreign leaders.
In a statement, Mr. Musk did not comment on the issue. A spokesman for the Defense Department said the agency takes security matters seriously, but declined to comment further.
