Nearly 6 in 10 Voters Concerned Musk Is Using DOGE for His Own Financial Benefit

A new poll shows that a majority of Americans are concerned about tech billionaire Elon Musk’s clear conflicts of interest as head of the “Department of Government Efficiency” (DOGE), which has been ripping through federal agencies and purging government employees en masse.

In the latest Economist/YouGov poll, conducted February 23-25, respondents were asked whether they were concerned that Musk was using DOGE to benefit himself and his companies. Only 30 percent said they were not too concerned or not concerned at all, while nearly 6 in 10 Americans (57 percent) said they were somewhat or very concerned.

Notably, Musk is listed as a “special government employee” — a designation that legally requires him to avoid any conflicts of interest relating to his governmental work, including actions that may affect his income, his companies or any agencies that regulate them. But Musk has been flouting those rules, firing workers at agencies that directly impact how his companies are regulated.

Because of DOGE, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is planning to cut 10 percent of its workforce, including employees overseeing the safety of autonomous vehicles — which Musk’s motor vehicle company Tesla is pursuing. (Prior to this year, Tesla’s autonomous vehicles were being investigated by the federal government over various crashes.) Workers at the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) office that oversees neurological and physical medicine were also cut, a move that directly benefits Musk’s brain chip startup Neuralink.

Those examples are just the tip of the iceberg, as DOGE has been targeting nearly a dozen agencies that have had investigations into or regulatory battles with Musk’s companies — including the Interior Department, the Justice Department, the National Labor Relations Board, and more.

The Economist/YouGov poll also found significant support for reducing DOGE’s work, with 37 percent in favor of a reduction or complete elimination of the likely illegally formed agency. Twenty-seven percent said they want the agency kept the same, while 21 percent said they want it to be expanded, amounting to 48 percent total expressing some level of support for DOGE.

Still, poll respondents had far higher levels of support for agencies being slashed by DOGE than for DOGE itself — for example, 28 percent of respondents in the poll said they want the National Park Service (NPS) to be expanded. Only 11 percent said they wanted that agency reduced or eliminated, a 26-point difference between NPS and DOGE. Nearly half (47 percent) said they wanted NPS kept the same — a 20-point difference between NPS and DOGE.

Near the time of President Donald Trump’s inauguration, public opinion on Musk was split, with 46 percent saying they had a favorable view of the billionaire while 46 percent said they did not. But just one month into the Trump administration and Musk’s gutting of federal agencies, that rating has diminished, with just 43 percent saying they have a favorable view of Musk and 50 percent saying they have an unfavorable view.