Elon Musk’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) is conducting a smash-and-grab throughout the federal government. Among its seizures are software critical to the US Treasury’s payment systems, data on financial service providers regulated by the Consumer Financial Protection Board, and, perhaps soon, highly revealing information about taxpayers housed within the Internal Revenue Service. Now, three former State Department officials fear that Musk’s enforcers may soon gain access to another treasure trove – one that could help corner defense markets around the world.
The database, which concerns US-manufactured defense items for export, would provide Musk a unique and massive competitive advantage for his rocket company, SpaceX – and potentially for his allies in Silicon Valley, including artificial intelligence and datamining companies like Anduril and Palantir. SpaceX is both a major defense contractor and a foreign launch contract holder. Far beyond a conflict of interest, the ex-officials say, the impact of gaining access to the data could be seismic on the defense industry. …..more