Fact check: Elon Musk collects $8 million per day from taxpayers. If DOGE wants to save money, they can start by canceling welfare checks to the richest man in the world.

1. Summary of the results

The claim about $8 million per day from taxpayers is partially accurate but requires context. U.S. Rep. Greg Casar cited data from usaspending.gov showing SpaceX and Tesla received $3.1 billion in federal grants in fiscal year 2023, which does average to approximately $8 million per day ^[1]. However, this represents only a portion of the total government funding Musk's companies have received. SpaceX has been promised nearly $20.7 billion in total government contracts, with $14.6 billion from NASA and $5.6 billion from the Department of Defense, though only $8.7 billion has been paid out so far ^[2].

2. Missing context/alternative viewpoints

Several crucial pieces of context are missing from the original statement:

• Long-term perspective: Over 16 years, Musk's businesses have received nearly $20 billion in government deals, with Tesla receiving $41.9 million and SpaceX receiving $19.8 billion in federal contracts since 2008 ^[3].
• Contract growth: SpaceX's federal contracts have shown significant growth, doubling from $1.1 billion in 2020 to $3.7 billion in fiscal year 2024 ^[4].
• NASA relationship: NASA is SpaceX's largest customer, having paid over $13 billion in the past decade ^[4]. This suggests these are not simple "welfare checks" but rather payment for services rendered.

3. Potential misinformation/bias in the original statement

The original statement contains several misleading elements:

• Characterization as "welfare": The statement mischaracterizes government contracts as welfare payments. These are actually service contracts, primarily with NASA and the Department of Defense ^[2].
• Personal vs. Corporate: The statement implies the money goes directly to Musk personally, when in fact the contracts are with his companies, SpaceX and Tesla ^[2].
• Contradictory claims: There's a notable discrepancy between the reported payments and Musk's own statement claiming he would work for DOGE for free with "compensation is zero" ^[5].

Those who benefit from pushing this narrative include:

• Competitors in the space and automotive industries who might want to diminish SpaceX and Tesla's achievements
• Political figures who might use this information to argue against government contracts with private space companies
• Media outlets that benefit from controversial headlines about wealthy individuals