If Democrats regain Congress, Swisher points to DOGE and Tesla crash investigations
In an Oct. 22, 2026, Throughline interview on NPR, longtime technology journalist Kara Swisher, who hosts the podcasts On and Pivot, examined Elon Musk’s business empire and political influence. Speaking with Morning Edition host Steve Inskeep, she said Musk should not make wartime or defense decisions.
Swisher began with Musk’s statement that Tesla and SpaceX were exploring a possible merger, a move that could bring two of his biggest companies under one roof. She asked what business case would justify combining an electric-vehicle manufacturer with a space and artificial-intelligence company.
“He’s got to do something with Tesla as it descends downward,” Swisher said, pointing to growing competition from Chinese electric-vehicle manufacturers. She argued that Musk missed an opportunity to develop an affordable electric car while BYD expanded globally.
Swisher said data, artificial intelligence and connectivity were increasingly central to Musk’s businesses. She questioned whether demand for computing power would hold up if the AI boom faltered.
The discussion then moved to elections. NPR said Democrats and Elon Musk continued to dominate midterm campaign fundraising as Musk spent hundreds of millions of dollars supporting Republican candidates. Swisher discussed what Musk could face if Democrats regained control of Congress. She said, “They could look into what happened at DOGE. I’d start there,” referring to the Department of Government Efficiency, and also pointed to previous investigations involving Tesla crashes.
Swisher’s concerns about unelected decision-making also reached Ukraine. NPR cited a Wall Street Journal report that Musk ordered a slowdown of military-grade Starlink service used by Ukrainian forces, disrupting drone operations and air defenses. The report said the decision had reportedly caught Ukrainian officials and some in the Trump administration by surprise.
The Wall Street Journal said Musk stated that restrictions on the satellite network were determined by the U.S. military and ultimately the president. Trump said he did not know who was responsible, while Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the administration had neither requested the slowdown nor known about it in advance.
NPR said it had repeatedly sought comment from Musk, who has a standing invitation to speak with the network, and separately reached out to SpaceX. The network’s report did not include a response from Musk or SpaceX.
Swisher used the reported Starlink slowdown to make a broader case about authority. “One single person who happens to be the world’s richest man should not be making wartime decisions or decisions about our defense or anything else like that,” she said.
She described Musk as “unelected, unaccountable, enormously wealthy” and said, “One single person who has no guardrails on him to be able to make these decisions that results in the deaths of people across the globe.”
NPR said the digital version of the interview was edited by Treye Green.