当选总统唐纳德·特朗普周二宣布，科技亿万富翁埃隆·马斯克和生物技术企业家维韦克·拉马斯瓦米将领导一个新成立的顾问团政府效率部这引起了一些政府伦理专家的警觉，他们说这两人深厚的经济利益可能会导致潜在的利益冲突。
一些伦理专家特别担心马斯克和拉马斯瓦米的角色被描述为“政府之外”——这一安排可能意味着他们将不受正常财务披露规则的约束，尽管他们的工作可能对联邦政府产生重大影响。
特朗普在谈到马斯克和拉马斯瓦米时说:“这两位出色的美国人将共同为我的政府拆除政府官僚机构、削减过度监管、削减浪费性支出和重组联邦机构铺平道路。”直言支持者特朗普的连任竞选。
作为外部政府顾问，拥有特斯拉、X和太空探索技术公司的马斯克和创建生物技术公司Roivant Sciences的拉马斯瓦米可能不会受到联邦政府要求官员向政府道德办公室披露财务利益的约束。
根据《联邦咨询委员会法》(Federal Advisory Committee Act)，政府以外的某些类别的顾问可能需要披露他们的利益，包括他们是否被归类为“特殊政府雇员”(Special Government Employee)，但伦理专家表示，人们对拟议中的部门了解不多，不知道他们是否会受到该法的保护。
马斯克承诺透明度，在宣布后不久就在X上发帖说，“政府效率部的所有行动都将在网上公布，以实现最大的透明度。”
“过渡团队将确保政府效率部和那些与之相关的人遵守所有与利益冲突有关的法律准则，”特朗普过渡发言人布莱恩·休斯告诉美国广播公司新闻。
竞选法律中心道德事务高级主任Kedric Payne告诉美国广播公司新闻，马斯克和拉马斯瓦米没有财务披露义务的可能性令人担忧，因为他们削减政府法规或支出的工作可能会在公众不知情的情况下直接影响他们的商业利益。
佩恩说:“这可能只是试图以政府工作人员和公众为代价，阻止对他们商业利益的监管。”他补充说，他们也可以为自己的企业获得更多政府合同。
佩恩说:“如果你取消政府做某些任务，那么这些任务可以交给政府的顾问合同。”
佩恩还强调了马斯克和拉马斯瓦米作为具有重大影响力的外部顾问的提议的高度不寻常的性质。
“这样做极其罕见，”他说。“让外部专家向政府提供建议是很常见的...可能只是一次会面，或者是一段时间以后的事情。但是，在这种情况下，我们的外部企业家拥有商业利益，可能会改变他们的监管方式，并拥有如此大的权力，这并不常见。”
佩恩还表示，他呼吁在新部门中谁将与马斯克和拉马斯瓦米一起工作的问题上保持透明，并表示他们的利益也需要公开。
鉴于马斯克和拉马斯瓦米的商业利益，华盛顿公民责任伦理组织(Citizens for Responsible Ethics)主席诺亚·布克班德(Noah Bookbinder)回应了佩恩对潜在利益冲突的一些担忧，同时强调需要更多细节来确定是否存在违反联邦道德法律的行为。
“我们还不太了解这些职位将如何运作，不知道实际上是否会有利益冲突，以及这些冲突会是什么，”Bookbinder说。“如果马斯克和拉马斯瓦米处于可以影响政府决策的位置，如果这些决策可能会影响他们的业务，那么就可能存在非法利益冲突的危险。其他法律和规则也可能成为今天的争论点，这取决于它们做什么以及这个‘部门’如何工作。”
布克宾德还提出了一种可能性，即鉴于马斯克对特朗普的重大影响，政府中的其他人可能会感到压力，不得不积极看待马斯克的利益，消息人士告诉ABC新闻最近看到了这一点麝香产品输入特朗普的人事决策，并在塑造未来的特朗普政府中发挥重要作用。
Some ethics experts raise concerns over Musk and Ramaswamy's Department of Government Efficiency roles
President-elect Donald Trump's announcement Tuesday that tech billionaire Elon Musk and biotech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy will lead a newly formed advisoryDepartment of Government Efficiencyhas alarmed some government ethics experts, who say the pair's deep financial interests could lead to potential conflicts of interest.
Some ethics experts are particularly alarmed that Musk and Ramaswamy's roles have been described as "outside of government" -- an arrangement that could potentially mean they would not be subject to normal financial disclosure rules, despite the major impact their work could have on the federal government.
"Together, these two wonderful Americans will pave the way for my Administration to dismantle Government Bureaucracy, slash excess regulations, cut wasteful expenditures, and restructure Federal Agencies," Trump said of Musk and Ramaswamy, both of whom werevocal supportersof Trump's reelection campaign.
As outside governmental advisers, Musk -- who owns Tesla, X and SpaceX -- and Ramaswamy -- who founded the biotech firm Roivant Sciences -- might not be subject to federal requirements mandating that officials disclose their financial interests to the Office of Government Ethics.
Certain categories of advisers from outside the government can be required to disclose their interests under the Federal Advisory Committee Act -- including if they are classified as a "Special Government Employee" -- but ethics experts say that not enough is known about the proposed department to know if they would be covered under that act.
Musk has promised transparency, posting on X shortly after the announcement, "All actions of the Department of Government Efficiency will be posted online for maximum transparency."
"The transition team will ensure the Department of Government Efficiency and those involved with it are compliant with all legal guidelines related to conflicts of interest," Trump transition spokesperson Brian Hughes told ABC News.
Kedric Payne, senior director of ethics at the Campaign Legal Center, told ABC News that the possibility that Musk and Ramaswamy would not have financial disclosure obligations is alarming because their work cutting government regulations or spending could directly impact their business interests without the public knowing.
"It could be simply an attempt to stop the regulations on their business interest at the expense of government workers and the public," said Payne, who added that they could also be in a position to get more government contracts for their businesses.
"If you eliminate the government from doing certain tasks, then those tasks can go to government contracts for consultants," Payne said.
Payne also stressed the highly unusual nature of Musk and Ramaswamy's proposed roles as outside advisers with significant influence.
"It's extremely rare to do it like this," he said. "It is common to have outside experts give advice to the government ... where it might just be a meeting, or something that's over a period of time. But to have a situation where we have outside entrepreneurs with business interests, possibly changing how they are regulated, and having this much power, that's not common."
Payne also said called for transparency regarding who else would be working with Musk and Ramaswamy in the new department, saying their interests would need to be made public as well.
Noah Bookbinder, the president of Citizens for Responsible Ethics in Washington, echoed some of Payne's concerns about potential conflicts of interest given Musk and Ramaswamy's business interests, while emphasizing that more details are necessary to determine whether there would be any violation of federal ethics laws.
"We don't yet know enough about how these positions will operate to know whether there will, in fact, be conflicts of interest and what those conflicts will be," Bookbinder said. "If Musk and Ramaswamy are in a position where they can influence governmental decisions and if some of those decisions could impact their businesses, then there could be a danger of illegal conflicts of interest. Other laws and rules could also be at issue today depending on what they do and how this 'Department' works."
Bookbinder also floated the possibility that others in government could feel pressed to look favorably on Musk's interests given his significant influence over Trump, which sources tell ABC News has recently seenMusk offering inputon Trump's staffing decisions and playing a significant role in shaping the future Trump administration.
