Elon Musk Dismantles USAID, Issues Social Security Warnings but Yet To Curb Congressional Insider Trading

Elon Musk's US Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) is tasked with streamlining government processes and reducing unnecessary spending. In doing so, DOGE has taken drastic steps like dismantling the USAID in early February and issuing threats to federal entitlements, including Social Security, either claiming these are "criminal organisations" or involved in massive fraudulent activities.

USAID, responsible for international development, went from disbursing billions in aid to programmes globally to a dead stop in weeks. Elsewhere, Musk began issuing threats to federal entitlements like Social Security and Medicare, alleging widespread fraud across these programmes.

To supposedly unravel the fraud, DOGE was given access to the federal payments system, which is responsible for paying Social Security and related benefits. However, a New York judge has blocked DOGE from accessing the personal financial data of Americans until 14th February. Over 70 million rely on Social Security benefits, and Musk's approach could lead to reduced monthly cheques for beneficiaries he deems unqualified to receive the payments. The billionaire is working to change how payments are made in the future.

More recently, DOGE cancelled almost £803.44 million in US Department of Education contracts, essentially eliminating the Institute of Education Sciences, one of the nation's top funders of education research.

As DOGE spearheads historic overhauls across government agencies, Musk has yet to address Congressional insider trading or advance the ETHICS Act, which was floored in 2023. The bill, sponsored by Senator Jeff Merkley, prohibits Congress members and their spouses/dependents from trading investments, like individual stocks.

Congressional Insider Trading On The Rise

In a 12th February X Post, PointsVille founder Gabor Gurbacs listed the US politicians with a net worth of over £40.17 million ($50 million) and their annual salaries. Congress Members like Rick Scott, Nancy Pelosi, Kevin Hern, and Mitch McConnell have annual salaries ranging between £139,000 and £179,000 but have net worth much higher than £40 million.

For instance, Nancy Pelosi's estimated net worth is £162.3 million, with an annual pay of £179,000. While many politicians in Gubacs' post are self-made millionaires, several actively trade securities to amass huge profits. Given their position in Congress and access to critical market information, concerns about insider trading have mounted over the years.

Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's portfolio returned 54% in 2024 to beat top hedge funds globally. Her portfolio returned over 700% since 2014. Nancy's husband, Paul, an investment banker, executes the trades on her behalf. Pelosi's trading activity has generated huge profits and has helped the couple avoid massive losses.

Musk, who is supposedly working to introduce government transparency, was recently sued by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on allegations of securities fraud related to the Twitter purchase.

The SEC claims that Musk didn't disclose his 5% stake in Twitter earlier, which enabled him to "underpay by at least $150 million for shares he purchased after his financial beneficial ownership report was due." He reportedly delayed ownership disclosure for over 10 days and purchased over £401.73 million worth of the stock during that period. Since the stock price soared after Musk's disclosure, the SEC stated that he profited from artificially low prices as other shareholders were disadvantaged.

Furthermore, the SEC investigated potential securities fraud and insider trading involving Elon Musk and Kimbal Musk, which were related to Tesla stock trades.

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