{"id":54,"date":"2026-05-21T21:42:45","date_gmt":"2026-05-21T21:42:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/movingservicesamerica.com\/?p=54"},"modified":"2026-05-21T21:42:45","modified_gmt":"2026-05-21T21:42:45","slug":"elon-musk-hired-a-dozen-texas-lobbyists-this-year-state-law-keeps-the-extent-of-their-influence-under-wraps","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/movingservicesamerica.com\/?p=54","title":{"rendered":"Elon Musk Hired a Dozen Texas Lobbyists This Year. State Law Keeps the Extent of Their Influence Under Wraps."},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Elon Musk\u2019s team of Texas lobbyists during the 2025 legislative session did not rival those of huge energy and telecommunications companies, which typically employ dozens of people to represent them. But Musk and his companies still hired more lobbyists this year than any other since 2021, according to data from the Texas Ethics Commission.<\/p>

Read more Utah Sen. Mike Lee Says Selling Off Public Lands Will Solve the West\u2019s Housing Crisis. Past Sales Show Otherwise.<\/a><\/p>\n

Musk, the billionaire businessman behind carmaker Tesla and aerospace company SpaceX, influenced several new Texas laws this year. How his lobbyists came about these wins, however, is more of a mystery.<\/p>\n

His lobbyists, who represented Tesla, SpaceX and the social media giant X Corp., spent tens of thousands of dollars on things like gifts and meals for Texas elected officials and others during the session, according to an analysis of state ethics data. In most cases, Texas transparency laws do not require lobbyists to disclose which politicians they wined and dined or on behalf of which clients.<\/p>\n

\n

Read More<\/h3>\n
\n
\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n <\/div>\n
\nInside Elon Musk\u2019s Stellar Year at the Texas Capitol<\/strong>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

The Texas Newsroom reached out to all 12 of Musk\u2019s lobbyists registered with the state this session. Only one, Carrie Simmons, a lobbyist who counts Tesla among her clients, responded, but she declined to be interviewed. She said only Musk\u2019s companies could comment on their work this session.<\/p>\n

Emails sent to Musk\u2019s companies and to Musk himself were not returned.<\/p>\n

The Texas Newsroom was able to find hints of some of their actions in records obtained from Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and state Sen. Adam Hinojosa. Other documents detailing their deeper connections are hidden from disclosure by state laws.<\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

Ethics experts said the responsibility to improve transparency lies with Texas lawmakers. State law provides a \u201cbase level of transparency\u201d for the public on who lobbyists are and who they represent, said Andrew Cates, a former lobbyist who wrote a guide on state ethics rules.<\/p>\n

\u201cBeyond that, the Legislature simply has not prioritized enough transparency in how the dollars are actually being spent on legislators on a regular basis. But that\u2019s not the lobby\u2019s fault, it\u2019s the Legislature\u2019s,\u201d Cates said.<\/p>\n

Tom Forbes, president of the Professional Advocacy Association of Texas, a statewide lobbyist organization, said while lobbyists sometimes get a bad rap, they play a critical role for lawmakers trying to make decisions on complex policies. He told The Texas Newsroom that his group is \u201cagnostic\u201d about making reporting requirements more stringent but will follow any changes the state implements.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur association is going to comply with whatever law the Legislature passes,\u201d Forbes said.<\/p>\n

Who did Musk hire and who did they lobby?<\/h3>\n

Eight of Musk\u2019s lobbyists worked for SpaceX, according to filings with the Ethics Commission. Tesla had four, one of whom also worked for X.<\/p>\n

Musk\u2019s lobbyists include former advisers and staffers for Gov. Greg Abbott, among them Mike Toomey and Reed Clay. Another lobbyist, Will McAdams, once sat on the Public Utility Commission of Texas, which regulates the state\u2019s electric, telecommunications, and water and sewer utilities.<\/p>\n

All but one lobbyist had other clients for whom they were also working, making it more difficult to track exactly how much spending went to further Musk\u2019s agenda. Benjamin Lancaster, a former legislative staffer, was only on SpaceX\u2019s payroll.<\/p>\n

Lobbyists are not required to report their exact salaries, only a pay range. According to Ethics Commission data, Musk pledged to pay somewhere between about $400,000 to nearly $1 million in total to his lobbyists for their work this year. Half of them could rake in more than $110,000 each working for Musk\u2019s companies.<\/p>\n

Each month, lobbyists report their total spending. But state rules don\u2019t require them to disclose who was on the receiving end unless the lobbyist shelled out more than $132.60 on one person in a single day. This includes food and beverages, transportation, lodging or entertainment. Taxes and tips are not counted. The disclosure threshold for gifts is $110.<\/p>

Read more Why Gov. Greg Abbott Won\u2019t Release His Emails With Elon Musk<\/a><\/p>\n

Lobbyists also don\u2019t need to disclose exactly who attended events to which all legislators were invited, like catered lunches for the entire Texas House of Representatives or happy hours hosted off-site.<\/p>\n

In practice, these rules mean a lobbyist could buy the same elected official a steak dinner every night. As long as the daily cost stays under that amount, they don\u2019t need to say who got the free meal.<\/p>\n

Musk\u2019s lobbyists spent more than $46,000 on food and drink alone for elected officials and their staff, family and guests this year, according to state ethics records. None of them detailed which elected officials may have been on the receiving end, implying all of their spending remained beneath the daily threshold.<\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

Jim Clancy, the former chair of the Ethics Commission, said it\u2019s common for multiple lobbyists to divide a single bill in order to stay below the reporting threshold.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey have 15 different credit cards in the deal to make sure that it\u2019s all below the limit,\u201d Clancy told The Texas Newsroom. \u201cThe Legislature has to change it. And if they did, they wouldn\u2019t get to eat for free.\u201d<\/p>\n

A slate of ethics bills, including several to require transparency into who funds mass text messages for political campaigns, failed to become law this year, according to The Texas Tribune. Meanwhile, legislators approved a new law that will reduce the fine for former lawmakers who engage in illegal lobbying activity.<\/p>\n

What do other records show?<\/h3>\n

While lobbyists are not required to disclose which bills they discuss in private meetings with officials and their staff, they must note their position if they choose to testify on a piece of legislation. This is how The Texas Newsroom identified the 13 bills on which Musk\u2019s lobbyists took a public stance.<\/p>\n

The Texas Newsroom was able to glean some additional insight on lobbyist influence from records received through public information requests.<\/p>\n

Calendars for Hinojosa, a newly elected South Texas Republican who authored multiple bills that would benefit SpaceX and other aerospace companies, showed he or his staff had meetings scheduled with lobbyists or representatives from Musk\u2019s rocket company at least three times in two months. Emails showed Patrick penned a letter to the Federal Aviation Administration supporting SpaceX\u2019s ability to increase the number of launches at its South Texas rocket site.<\/p>\n

Patrick was also invited to take a tour of the Tesla Gigafactory outside Austin, these records showed, but it\u2019s unclear if he went.<\/p>\n

Neither Hinojosa nor Patrick responded to requests for an interview.<\/p>\n

The Texas Senate declined to release other documents that could have shed light on how Musk\u2019s companies interacted with elected officials. In denying their release, Senate Secretary Patsy Spaw said communications between state lawmakers and Texas residents are \u201cconfidential by law.\u201d<\/p>\n

The reason, she said, is \u201cto ensure the right of citizens of the state to petition their state government without fear of harassment, retaliation or public ridicule.\u201d<\/p>

Read more Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton Is Outsourcing More of His Office\u2019s Work to Costly Private Lawyers<\/a><\/p>\n

This could include emails with lobbyists.<\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Musk, the billionaire businessman behind Tesla and SpaceX, influenced several new Texas laws this year. How his lobbyists came about these wins, however, is more of a mystery.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":53,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[4],"class_list":["post-54","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics","tag-politics"],"yoast_head":"\nElon Musk Hired a Dozen Texas Lobbyists This Year. State Law Keeps the Extent of Their Influence Under Wraps. - Moving Services America<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/movingservicesamerica.com\/?p=54\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Elon Musk Hired a Dozen Texas Lobbyists This Year. State Law Keeps the Extent of Their Influence Under Wraps. - Moving Services America\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Musk, the billionaire businessman behind Tesla and SpaceX, influenced several new Texas laws this year. How his lobbyists came about these wins, however, is more of a mystery.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/movingservicesamerica.com\/?p=54\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Moving Services America\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-05-21T21:42:45+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/movingservicesamerica.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/c69f7a4c0c43474b1e7e64a6334a1f3e.webp\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2000\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1333\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/webp\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"6 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movingservicesamerica.com\\\/?p=54#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movingservicesamerica.com\\\/?p=54\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movingservicesamerica.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/2e45dc0fd6857d1590d6509b970ee98a\"},\"headline\":\"Elon Musk Hired a Dozen Texas Lobbyists This Year. State Law Keeps the Extent of Their Influence Under Wraps.\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-05-21T21:42:45+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movingservicesamerica.com\\\/?p=54\"},\"wordCount\":1223,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movingservicesamerica.com\\\/?p=54#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movingservicesamerica.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/c69f7a4c0c43474b1e7e64a6334a1f3e.webp\",\"keywords\":[\"Politics\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Politics\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/movingservicesamerica.com\\\/?p=54#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movingservicesamerica.com\\\/?p=54\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movingservicesamerica.com\\\/?p=54\",\"name\":\"Elon Musk Hired a Dozen Texas Lobbyists This Year. State Law Keeps the Extent of Their Influence Under Wraps. - Moving Services America\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movingservicesamerica.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movingservicesamerica.com\\\/?p=54#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movingservicesamerica.com\\\/?p=54#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movingservicesamerica.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/c69f7a4c0c43474b1e7e64a6334a1f3e.webp\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-05-21T21:42:45+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movingservicesamerica.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/2e45dc0fd6857d1590d6509b970ee98a\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movingservicesamerica.com\\\/?p=54#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/movingservicesamerica.com\\\/?p=54\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movingservicesamerica.com\\\/?p=54#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movingservicesamerica.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/c69f7a4c0c43474b1e7e64a6334a1f3e.webp\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movingservicesamerica.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/c69f7a4c0c43474b1e7e64a6334a1f3e.webp\",\"width\":2000,\"height\":1333},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movingservicesamerica.com\\\/?p=54#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movingservicesamerica.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Elon Musk Hired a Dozen Texas Lobbyists This Year. State Law Keeps the Extent of Their Influence Under Wraps.\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movingservicesamerica.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movingservicesamerica.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Moving Services America\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movingservicesamerica.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movingservicesamerica.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/2e45dc0fd6857d1590d6509b970ee98a\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/movingservicesamerica.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movingservicesamerica.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Elon Musk Hired a Dozen Texas Lobbyists This Year. State Law Keeps the Extent of Their Influence Under Wraps. - Moving Services America","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/movingservicesamerica.com\/?p=54","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Elon Musk Hired a Dozen Texas Lobbyists This Year. State Law Keeps the Extent of Their Influence Under Wraps. - Moving Services America","og_description":"Musk, the billionaire businessman behind Tesla and SpaceX, influenced several new Texas laws this year. How his lobbyists came about these wins, however, is more of a mystery.","og_url":"https:\/\/movingservicesamerica.com\/?p=54","og_site_name":"Moving Services America","article_published_time":"2026-05-21T21:42:45+00:00","og_image":[{"width":2000,"height":1333,"url":"https:\/\/movingservicesamerica.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/c69f7a4c0c43474b1e7e64a6334a1f3e.webp","type":"image\/webp"}],"author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"6 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/movingservicesamerica.com\/?p=54#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/movingservicesamerica.com\/?p=54"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/movingservicesamerica.com\/#\/schema\/person\/2e45dc0fd6857d1590d6509b970ee98a"},"headline":"Elon Musk Hired a Dozen Texas Lobbyists This Year. State Law Keeps the Extent of Their Influence Under Wraps.","datePublished":"2026-05-21T21:42:45+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/movingservicesamerica.com\/?p=54"},"wordCount":1223,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/movingservicesamerica.com\/?p=54#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/movingservicesamerica.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/c69f7a4c0c43474b1e7e64a6334a1f3e.webp","keywords":["Politics"],"articleSection":["Politics"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/movingservicesamerica.com\/?p=54#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/movingservicesamerica.com\/?p=54","url":"https:\/\/movingservicesamerica.com\/?p=54","name":"Elon Musk Hired a Dozen Texas Lobbyists This Year. State Law Keeps the Extent of Their Influence Under Wraps. - Moving Services America","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/movingservicesamerica.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/movingservicesamerica.com\/?p=54#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/movingservicesamerica.com\/?p=54#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/movingservicesamerica.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/c69f7a4c0c43474b1e7e64a6334a1f3e.webp","datePublished":"2026-05-21T21:42:45+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/movingservicesamerica.com\/#\/schema\/person\/2e45dc0fd6857d1590d6509b970ee98a"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/movingservicesamerica.com\/?p=54#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/movingservicesamerica.com\/?p=54"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/movingservicesamerica.com\/?p=54#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/movingservicesamerica.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/c69f7a4c0c43474b1e7e64a6334a1f3e.webp","contentUrl":"https:\/\/movingservicesamerica.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/c69f7a4c0c43474b1e7e64a6334a1f3e.webp","width":2000,"height":1333},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/movingservicesamerica.com\/?p=54#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/movingservicesamerica.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Elon Musk Hired a Dozen Texas Lobbyists This Year. State Law Keeps the Extent of Their Influence Under Wraps."}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/movingservicesamerica.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/movingservicesamerica.com\/","name":"Moving Services America","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/movingservicesamerica.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/movingservicesamerica.com\/#\/schema\/person\/2e45dc0fd6857d1590d6509b970ee98a","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/movingservicesamerica.com"],"url":"https:\/\/movingservicesamerica.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/movingservicesamerica.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/movingservicesamerica.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/movingservicesamerica.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movingservicesamerica.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movingservicesamerica.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=54"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/movingservicesamerica.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movingservicesamerica.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/53"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/movingservicesamerica.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=54"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movingservicesamerica.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=54"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movingservicesamerica.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=54"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}