Blumenthal Demands Answers from Transportation Secretary on Proposed Contract with Musk's Starlink

[WASHINGTON, D.C.] – U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Ranking Member of the U.S. Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations (PSI), today wrote to U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, demanding answers about the Federal Aviation Administration’s proposed purchase of technology from Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) leader Elon Musk’s Starlink. Blumenthal’s letter comes as Musk wages a pressure campaign at the FAA, including successfully pressuring the FAA Administrator to resign, directing the firing of hundreds of safety-critical employees, and replacing FAA personnel with SpaceX employees. The FAA regulates Starlink’s parent company SpaceX and has previously fined SpaceX for safety violations.

“The apparent selection of Musk-owned Starlink as an FAA contractor reeks of the most corrupt, self-serving abuses that federal procurement laws and principles are intended to prevent. The technology that supports our National Airspace System needs to be upgraded, but that must be accomplished without allowing Elon Musk to brazenly line his pockets at taxpayers’ expense,” Blumenthal wrote.

Blumenthal continued, “At your invitation, Mr. Musk and a team from SpaceX…visited the Air Traffic Control System Command Center on February 17 to ‘envision how we can make a new, better, modern and safer system.’ One week later, on February 24, the FAA issued a statement explaining that ‘the FAA has been considering the use of Starlink’ to improve the reliability of weather information for the aviation community in remote areas of the country, and that Starlink terminals are being tested in Alaska and New Jersey.  News reports indicate that Mr. Musk has already ‘approved shipment of 4,000 Starlink terminals to the FAA’ and that the FAA is ‘close to cancelling’ a $2.4 billion contract with Verizon Communications, Inc. (‘Verizon’), which was awarded in 2023 following a competitive bidding process.”

Underscoring how Musk’s participating in or influence over FAA decision-making may violate federal conflicts of interest laws, Blumenthal concluded, “The FAA’s hurried adoption of Starlink for services already contracted to Verizon, the absence of any justification for exempting Starlink from the competitive bidding process, and Mr. Musk’s undue influence over the FAA’s decision-making appear to point to one conclusion—that Mr. Musk is corruptly and unlawfully enriching himself by steering this multi-million-dollar FAA contract to his own business.”

As PSI Ranking Member, Blumenthal is investigating Musk and DOGE and has written to all six of Musk’s companies, urging them to preserve all records related to government activities as Musk exploits his White House position for financial gain and seeks to consolidate power. Thus far, Musk’s companies—including SpaceX—have refused to commit to preserving these records and have failed to address Musk’s glaring conflicts of interest. Blumenthal’s letters to Musk’s companies are available here. Responses from Musk’s companies and follow-up letters from Blumenthal are available here.

Blumenthal has also raised concerns about the State Department’s plan to purchase $400 million in armored Tesla Cybertuck vehicles. Blumenthal’s letter to U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio is available here.

The full text of Blumenthal’s letter to Secretary Duffy is available here and below.

Dear Secretary Duffy:

            I write to request information and records regarding the Federal Aviation Administration’s (“FAA”) proposed purchase of technology from Elon Musk’s Starlink to communicate aviation weather information—potentially delivering a windfall to Mr. Musk worth millions of dollars.  The proposed purchase raises a number of troubling questions given Mr. Musk’s deliberate disregard for even the most obvious conflicts of interest posed by his business interests and simultaneous work for the federal government.[1] The apparent selection of Musk-owned Starlink as an FAA contractor reeks of the most corrupt, self-serving abuses that federal procurement laws and principles are intended to prevent. The technology that supports our National Airspace System needs to be upgraded, but that must be accomplished without allowing Elon Musk to brazenly line his pockets at taxpayers’ expense.

Since President Trump’s election, Elon Musk has exerted unprecedented and unjustified influence over the FAA, which directly regulates and has fined Mr. Musk’s SpaceX company for its disregard for safety.[2] Mr. Musk successfully pressured the FAA Administrator to resign[3] and, through his work for the Department of Government Efficiency, has directed the firing of more than 300 FAA employees.[4] At your invitation, Mr. Musk and a team from SpaceX (Starlink’s parent company) visited the Air Traffic Control System Command Center on February 17 to “envision how we can make a new, better, modern and safer system.”[5] One week later, on February 24, the FAA issued a statement explaining that “the FAA has been considering the use of Starlink” to improve the reliability of weather information for the aviation community in remote areas of the country, and that Starlink terminals are being tested in Alaska and New Jersey.[6] News reports indicate that Mr. Musk has already “approved shipment of 4,000 Starlink terminals to the FAA” and that the FAA is “close to cancelling” a $2.4 billion contract with Verizon Communications, Inc. (“Verizon”), which was awarded in 2023 following a competitive bidding process.[7] Mr. Musk has implied that Starlink’s technology will replace Verizon-contracted services and equipment.[8] In response to Mr. Musk’s apparent scheme to replace Verizon with Starlink, reportedly “[s]everal senior FAA officials have refused to sign paperwork authorizing the switch.”[9]   

Beyond the clear ethical boundaries that his conduct crosses, Mr. Musk’s apparent participation in or influence over FAA procurement decision-making may violate federal conflicts of interest laws. As a special government employee, Mr. Musk may not “act as an agent” for his own company when the company seeks federal contracts that are awarded with Mr. Musk’s participation.[10] This prohibition was enacted to prevent exactly the kind of improper influence that appears to arise here, where Mr. Musk “could potentially distort the government’s process for making a decision to confer a benefit, impose a sanction, or otherwise to directly effect the interests of discrete and identifiable persons or parties.”[11] Mr. Musk’s improper self-dealing in this case appears all the more egregious in light of the circumstances surrounding Starlink’s selection.

            The FAA’s procurement policy emphasizes “competition among two or more sources” as the “preferred method of procurement,” which is intended to secure the best value to satisfy the FAA’s mission and ensure public trust.[12] The FAA may avoid a competitive bidding process when it is “not feasible” and a single source contract is “in the FAA’s best interest and the rational basis for the decision is documented.”[13] Procurements anticipated to exceed $250,000 “must be publicly announced on the Internet or through other means.”[14] There is no indication that any of these procedures were followed in the case of Starlink’s selection. The FAA’s hurried adoption of Starlink for services already contracted to Verizon, the absence of any justification for exempting Starlink from the competitive bidding process, and Mr. Musk’s undue influence over the FAA’s decision-making appear to point to one conclusion—that Mr. Musk is corruptly and unlawfully enriching himself by steering this multi-million-dollar FAA contract to his own business.

            To assist the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations’ understanding of the FAA’s justification of and process for selecting Starlink, please provide the following information and records by March 7, 2025.

1. Specify the amount of money the FAA has spent to procure Starlink terminals it is currently testing in Alaska and New Jersey and the date(s) on which any payments were made by the FAA to Starlink.

2. Describe in detail any FAA-related work, whether compensated or uncompensated, currently or previously performed by:
1. Ted Malaska, Senior Director of Application Software at SpaceX;
2. Brady Glantz, Software Engineer at SpaceX; and
3. Thomas Kiernan, Software Engineer at SpaceX.[15]

3. All communications[16] referring or relating to Starlink transmitted to, from, or between Elon Musk, Ted Malaska, Brady Glantz, Thomas Kiernan and any FAA personnel from January 20, 2025 to the present.

4. All records[17] documenting the basis for selecting Starlink as a single source contractor, including, but not limited to, implementation and planning documents and procurement plans.

5. All records provided by the relevant FAA service organization(s) that constitute “supporting documentation that justifies the proposed single source strategy decision” benefitting Starlink pursuant to Section 3.2.2.4 of the FAA Acquisition Management Policy, including, but not limited to, results of market analysis, cost or price data, unique qualifications or performance capability, and past performance.

6. All records reflecting an FAA contracting officer’s “affirmative determination” of Starlink’s responsibility as a contractor pursuant to Section 3.2.2.7.2 of the FAA Acquisition Management Policy.

7. All records reflecting the FAA Chief Information Officer’s review and approval of procurement actions for information technology and services benefitting Starlink pursuant to Section 3.2.1.6 of the FAA Acquisition Management Policy.

8. The name(s) and title(s) of any FAA personnel that approved or participated in approving the FAA’s recourse to a sole source contract or anticipated sole source contract with Starlink.

9. All records reflecting the FAA’s assessment of Verizon’s performance of the contract awarded in 2023.

10. Records reflecting the scope of work covered by:
1. The contract awarded to Verizon in 2023;
2. Any associated request for proposals issued by the FAA since 2023;
3. Any draft contract or proposal submitted to the FAA by Starlink; or
4. Any draft contract or proposal submitted by the FAA to Starlink.

Sincerely,

-30-