Congress members buy Musk’s SpaceX stock after IPO

Three days after SpaceX’s blockbuster public debut, Rep. William Timmons bought as much as $100,000 of the rocket company’s stock.

The South Carolina Republican chairs a House oversight panel on military and foreign affairs and sits on a financial services subcommittee covering artificial intelligence — two sectors central to Elon Musk’s newly public empire.

He was not the only member of Congress to buy in.

Within six days of the June 12 initial public offering, at least six House members or their immediate families purchased a total of between roughly $83,000 and $245,000 in SpaceX shares, according to a CNBC tally of the amounts reported in House financial disclosures, where transactions are reported in ranges. Joining Timmons were Reps. John McGuire, R-Va., Dan Meuser, R-Pa., Gil Cisneros, D-Calif., John James, R-Mich., and Jared Moskowitz, D-Fla.

That total reflects the combined minimum and maximum values reported for the six transactions: $50,001 to $100,000 for Timmons; $1,001 to $15,000 for McGuire, Moskowitz and Cisneros; and $15,001 to $50,000 for James and Meuser.

That count could rise. House members must report stock trades over $1,000 within 30 days of learning of them and no later than 45 days after the transaction. Monday was the deadline for reporting IPO-day purchases; trades in the following six days are due by Aug. 2.

Five of those members serve on committees overseeing aspects of SpaceX’s business — including defense, satellite communications and AI — and securities markets. The company relies heavily on federal approvals and receives billions in government contracts — spending directed by the very lawmakers buying its stock.

There is no evidence the lawmakers traded on nonpublic information, violated congressional trading rules or used their offices to benefit SpaceX. The trades are legal; three were made by a spouse or child, and some lawmakers say outside advisors manage their portfolios. While there have been efforts to limit the practice, Congress members are allowed to own and buy individual stocks provided they disclose their purchases and holdings.

Still, an ethics expert and even some members of Congress say the holdings can create the appearance that lawmakers’ official duties overlap with their households’ financial interests. And they could be a sign of things to come, with other highly anticipated IPOs such as those of OpenAI and Anthropic on the horizon.

“Members are making decisions, buying and selling as if they’re on Wall Street. And they’re not doing it in the interest of their constituents,” Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., told CNBC when asked about the SpaceX trades. “They’re doing it in the interest of their pockets.”

Kedric Payne, ethics director at the nonprofit, nonpartisan Campaign Legal Center, said the SpaceX purchases show congressional stock trading opens the door to ethical conflicts that are “much bigger than insider trading.”

“The potential conflict of…