Elon Musk’s ability to influence elections could be sharply curtailed under a new proposal, shared first with The Washington Sun, that offers an early look at how Democrats might use power if next week’s elections go their way.
The idea, from Sen. Chris Van Hollen of Maryland and California Rep. Robert Garcia, the top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee, is to pass a bill closing what they’re calling the “Elon Musk loophole.”
They’re referring to a facet of federal campaign law that has allowed the world’s richest man to pour nearly half a billion dollars of his personal wealth into the 2026 midterm elections, all while his companies hold tens of billions of dollars in federal government contracts.
“If you ask the normal person on the street whether it reeks of corruption for a CEO or big corporate shareholder to spend boatloads of money to elect members of Congress who will then ratify billion-dollar federal contracts, I think almost every person would say that stinks,” Van Hollen said in an interview.
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“American people across the political spectrum don’t want to see a Congress that’s bought and paid for by Elon Musk, and the fact that he is doing that while he’s raking in billions and billions of dollars of federal government contracts is rank corruption,” he said.
Current law forbids federal contractors to make any sort of donation to federal campaigns, but Musk can contribute freely because his companies — such as SpaceX and Tesla — are considered separate legal entities.
Van Hollen’s bill, which he said he plans to introduce next month, would amend the law to also ban executive office holders, major shareholders and affiliated corporations from making campaign donations.
Musk’s election spending this year has been historic and unprecedented, setting off alarms among Democrats and government watchdogs. The billionaire has given $446 million to Republican candidates and Republican-aligned groups so far, making him the Republican Party’s single largest donor this cycle.
Nearly half of Musk’s spending has been concentrated in Texas, where SpaceX is based and develops and launches its rocket systems. He has poured about $190 million into a Republican super PAC on a mission to rescue Republican Senate candidate Ken Paxton, who’s in a tight race against Democrat James Talarico that will help determine control of the U.S. Senate.
The super PAC spending is making up for the fundraising gap between Paxton and Talarico, who has raised more than any other federal candidate in this election cycle. Talarico has accused Musk of “trying to buy” a Senate seat in Texas.
“We just found out that the richest man in the world is almost single-handedly bankrolling this effort to install Ken Paxton in the Senate and defeat the movement that we are building in our state,” Talarico said at a campaign event Tuesday. “In all likelihood, if you’ve seen an attack ad on your TV, that was Elon. If you’ve gotten lies in your mailbox, that was Elon. If you’ve received a text message saying scary things about me with scary black and white photos, that was Elon, too.”
Musk, meanwhile, has railed against Talarico on X, the social media platform he owns, calling him a “creep,” “pure evil” and a “far left extremist,” and posting that “there is something deeply wrong with Talarico.”
Van Hollen’s bill would not bar such activity on Musk’s own website.
Representatives for Musk did not immediately answer a request for comment.
Beyond trying to stanch the tech titan’s virtually unlimited ability to spend on elections, Democrats have signaled a broad oversight agenda if they take control of one or both chambers of Congress next month.
Already, some Democratic lawmakers are calling for subpoenaing Musk to testify about reports that he restricted or slowed Ukraine’s access to Starshield, the satellite network that Musk owns and Ukraine uses to defend against drone strikes. Democrats also have concerns regarding Musk’s leadership of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) last year, and a long list of potential conflicts of interest in government.
Musk will probably also play a starring role in the crowded 2028 Democratic presidential primary, which looks set to ramp up quickly after the midterm elections.
Van Hollen, a progressive senator who is “kicking the tires” himself on a White House run, estimated that Musk, through his companies, has made approximately $20 billion in profits on taxpayer-funded government contracts.
“Even spending $450 million [on campaign contributions] this cycle, he’s getting a great return in terms of taxpayer-funded government contracts,” Van Hollen told The Sun over the phone while campaigning for Democratic candidates in Georgia.
The bill has little future in the current Republican-controlled Congress, and even if Democrats win both chambers of Congress and can pass it next year, President Donald Trump, who benefits from Musk’s spending, could not be expected to sign it into law.
Still, Van Hollen said he believes his bill sends a strong message and presents the likeliest path to address the huge sums of money flooding elections, because courts have previously upheld restrictions on campaign spending by federal contractors.
He said lawmakers would not have to pursue the even more difficult path of seeking a constitutional amendment, as they would to overturn the Supreme Court’s 2010 Citizens United ruling that opened the door to unlimited corporate campaign spending.
“Federal courts have reviewed this limitation and found that it is constitutional. It doesn’t violate anybody’s First Amendment rights or rights to contribute, because they recognized this is clear political corruption,” Van Hollen said.
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