Warren, Duckworth Raise Concerns Over Potential Quid Quo Pro between Elon Musk and Dr. Troy Meink, Trump’s Air Force Secretary Nominee
Reports Indicate Musk Pushed for Meink for Key Role after Meink Favored SpaceX Contract
“These reports raise concerns about your ability, if confirmed as Secretary, to treat contractors fairly and prioritize the Air Force’s mission over Elon Musk’s business interests.”
Washington, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), members of the Senate Armed Services Committee, sent a letter to Dr. Troy Meink, nominee for Secretary of the Air Force, following troubling reports that Elon Musk “pushed for” and “recommended” Dr. Meink's nomination to serve as Secretary of the Air Force after Meink favored SpaceX in a contracting deal while at the National Reconnaissance Organization.
If Dr. Meink is confirmed to be Secretary of the Air Force, he would be responsible for key contracting, deployment, and acquisition decisions. He would also make decisions about the role of key automated technologies and space programs, mixed-use unmanned aerial vehicles, artificial intelligence, and key space programs, crucially “oversee(ing) lucrative contracts for critical space efforts where top Trump ally Elon Musk’s SpaceX dominates.” All of these decisions may have a direct impact on SpaceX, Mr. Musk’s aerospace company, and other companies owned by him.
Reporting from Reuters suggests Dr. Meink showed favoritism towards SpaceX during his time at the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO). Space X was reportedly able to secure $2.5 billion in federal contracts while blocking bids from competitors—through a last-minute alteration Dr. Meink made to the NRO contract. When L3Harris Technologies raised concerns about changes to the contract, Dr. Meink allegedly threatened the company, saying “future business with the agency could be hurt if it filed a formal protest.”
“SpaceX’s monopoly over NRO contracts has created a situation where ‘SpaceX is building hundreds of the satellites for the spy agency and then putting them into orbit on its own rocket,’ wrote the senators. “This type of vertical integration can ‘culminate in a de facto monopoly, cementing a stagnant and wasteful anticompetitive paradigm.’”
“These are incredibly serious allegations of misconduct and favoritism,” the senators continued. “These reports raise concerns about your ability, if confirmed as Secretary, to treat contractors fairly and prioritize the Air Force’s mission over Elon Musk’s business interests.”
The senators demanded answers to their concerns about his previous contracting decisions, the nature of his relationship with Mr. Musk, and his plans to engage in future contracting decisions at the Pentagon, if confirmed, by March 6, 2025.
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