Elon Musk gives millions to Republican super PACs ahead of the midterms
Musk made a pair of $5 million donations on June 27 to the main super PACs backing House and Senate Republicans. That made Musk the largest individual donor to both groups in the first six months of 2025, according to new campaign finance reports filed Thursday.
The new contributions are further proof of how Musk can make a big splash in politics by putting his signature on just one check. And they raise the question of how much more there might be before the midterms, despite Musk's messy post-White House breakup with Trump and his statements about starting a third party in July, after the donation.
Musk's June 27 donations supporting Senate Leadership Fund and Congressional Leadership Fund, the two GOP super PACs, came about a month after leaving his official post as an adviser to Trump and days before he began publicly discussing the idea of starting a new political party.
Meanwhile, other new campaign finance reports show Musk pumped $45.3 million into his own super PAC in the first six months of this year. The tech billionaire gave nearly $17.9 million directly to the group and sent another $27.4 million in in-kind contributions, with Musk covering funds for million-dollar prizes to voters who signed petitions.
America PAC spent $47.3 million in the first six months of the year, including $15.5 million through the first week of April, when the group was heavily involved in the April 1 elections for the Wisconsin state Supreme Court and special House elections in Florida.
The group reported spending $6 million on canvassing and field operations, as well as a few million dollars on digital ads, mailers and phone calls.
The full scope of Musk's giving in the first half of 2025 isn't clear yet — super PACs will continue filing fundraising reports with the Federal Election Commission Thursday ahead of a midnight filing deadline, and many other groups involved in politics never have to disclose their donors.
Musk spent approximately a quarter-billion dollars in the 2024 election, giving largely in support of Trump's campaign.
Thursday's America PAC filing covers fundraising and spending from January 1 through June 30. It's unclear whether Musk used his super PAC for anything related to his July pledge to start a new political party, which came after the period covered by the new report.
Musk spent about five months in the White House as an adviser to Trump and the public face of the president's 'Department of Government Efficiency' initiative. But he's had a rocky relationship with Trump since the final days of his official tenure, repeatedly criticizing the White House's signature tax cut and spending bill and even attacking Trump for his past personal ties to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
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The Dow Jones Index rose Thursday on Trump tariff news. Eli Lilly plunged on disappointing weight-loss drug trial results. Solve the daily Crossword
