The head of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), Elon Musk, signaled a new front in his sweeping anti-corruption campaign this week—Congress itself. Speaking at a Wisconsin rally in support of state Supreme Court candidate Judge Brad Schimel, Musk zeroed in on a long-festering sore spot in American politics: how members of Congress, earning under $200,000 annually, routinely end up with multi-million-dollar fortunes.
“A lot of strangely wealthy members of Congress—where I just can’t—I’m trying to connect the dots of how did they become rich,” Musk told the crowd. “How’d they get $20 million if they’re earning $200,000 a year? Nobody can explain that.”
The remarks come amid growing frustration among the American public over perceived insider dealing on Capitol Hill. Musk made it clear that DOGE, the Trump-era agency tasked with rooting out government waste, fraud, and abuse, will be applying pressure where it hurts. “We’re gonna try to figure it out and certainly stop it from happening,” he added.
🚨 JUST IN: Elon Musk announces he and DOGE are investigating HOW members of Congress are getting obscenely wealthy on their government salaries
Heads are about to ROLL! 🔥
“How’d they get $20 million if they’re earning $200,000 a year?
Nobody can explain that.
We’re gonna… pic.twitter.com/l9ungv73RQ
— Nick Sortor (@nicksortor) March 31, 2025
Members of Congress currently enjoy the legal ability to buy and trade stocks and crypto—provided they disclose transactions under the STOCK Act. But the issue, as many Americans see it, isn’t legality. It’s access. It’s proximity to power. And it’s the suspicious timing of trades that appear to anticipate legislation or market shifts with uncanny precision.
The math simply doesn’t add up. The base salary for most lawmakers is $174,000. Even top leadership positions top out below $225,000. And yet, members of both parties boast net worths in the tens—and in some cases, hundreds—of millions. Nancy Pelosi and her husband, Paul, for example, are estimated to have a combined net worth nearing $250 million.
Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) has already taken legislative aim at the issue with the PELOSI Act—“Preventing Elected Leaders from Owning Securities and Investments.” The name is no accident. And the support is bipartisan. Former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, while still a Democrat, openly criticized her own party’s leadership for what she called a “rigged” system that allowed elected officials to profit from insider knowledge.
🚨BREAKING🚨
I have just released the full report on politicians trading in 2023.
Like every year since 2020, US politicians beat the market.
And many in Congress made unusually timed trades resulting in huge gains.
Here are the top performers of 2023. pic.twitter.com/ykf9VICsBw
— unusual_whales (@unusual_whales) January 2, 2024
“We have people in positions of power to pass legislation… They can see, ‘OK, here are the industries that will benefit from this,’ and then go make money in the process,” Gabbard said.
Pelosi, for her part, has defended congressional stock trading in the past. “We’re a free-market economy,” she said while Speaker. “They should be able to participate in that.” But critics note that participation without strict oversight creates a two-tiered system—one for those with legislative power, and another for everyone else.
The problem isn’t new. In 2021, Business Insider’s “Conflicted Congress” report exposed widespread ethical lapses, highlighting how lawmakers often escaped accountability despite blatant conflicts of interest.
What is new, however, is that the nation’s top efficiency watchdog is now putting a spotlight on the issue. DOGE, under Musk’s leadership, is prepared to challenge the financial secrecy that has allowed lawmakers to enrich themselves while preaching public service.
