Billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk has resumed major political spending ahead of the 2026 midterm elections, donating millions of dollars to Republican political groups and candidates. Federal filings show Musk contributed $20 million to two Republican super PACs by the end of 2025.
Last month, he also donated $10 million to a super PAC supporting Kentucky Senate candidate Nate Morris, who is running to replace retiring Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky, The Hill reported.
Musk spent heavily during the 2024 election cycle, contributing at least $250 million to support President Donald Trump’s campaign.
After Trump’s victory, Musk joined the administration as head of the Department of Government Efficiency, known as DOGE, a cost-cutting initiative focused on reducing federal spending and the size of the federal workforce.
The effort drew criticism from opponents and sparked debate over proposed reductions in government funding and staffing.
Musk’s political involvement also drew attention during a Wisconsin Supreme Court race last year.
His super PAC, America PAC, spent roughly $12 million supporting the conservative candidate in the race, though the liberal candidate ultimately won.
In May, Musk said he planned to reduce his political spending.
“In terms of political spending, I’m going to do a lot less in the future,” Musk said at the time. “If I see a reason to do political spending in the future, I will do it. I do not currently see a reason.”
DEEP POCKETS: Elon Musk is putting major money behind Republican efforts ahead of the 2026 midterm elections. pic.twitter.com/MQCuIm5WAk
— NEWSMAX (@NEWSMAX) February 7, 2026
Musk also left his White House role and had a public disagreement with Trump, at one point suggesting he might support the creation of a third political party.
Despite that tension, Musk resumed contributions in June, donating $5 million each to super PACs aligned with House and Senate Republican leadership, as well as $5 million to Trump’s super PAC, MAGA Inc., according to Federal Election Commission filings.
In December, Musk donated another $5 million to each of the two Republican leadership PACs.
The donations helped increase the Senate Leadership Fund’s cash reserves to $100 million at the end of the year, while the House leadership PAC reported $54 million on hand.
Musk’s super PAC, America PAC, received about $2.9 million from him during the final six months of 2025, bringing his total contributions to the group to $48 million for the year.
The PAC spent more than $50 million in 2025 and reported $275,107 in cash on hand at the end of the year.
Campaign finance reports show Republican and Democratic campaign committees entering the 2026 election cycle with comparable funding.
The Republican House campaign arm reported $45 million in cash on hand at the end of 2025, while the Democratic counterpart reported $46 million.
The Senate Democratic campaign arm reported $19 million compared with $17 million for the Republican Senate campaign committee.
Meanwhile, the Republican National Committee reported nearly $90 million in the bank, while the Democratic National Committee reported $12 million.
Musk has also faced scrutiny in recent weeks.
Regulators in several countries have opened investigations related to Musk’s social media platform X after its artificial intelligence chatbot Grok generated explicit images in response to some user prompts.
The company placed restrictions on certain image generation features and has said allegations tied to a French investigation into the platform are “baseless.”
Musk has also been mentioned in recently released Justice Department documents connected to financier Jeffrey Epstein.
Emails from 2012 to 2014 show Musk discussing possible travel plans involving Epstein’s private island.
Musk said in a post on X that he did not attend Epstein’s parties, fly on his plane or visit the island.
The developments come as Musk’s business empire continues to expand.
Following a merger between SpaceX and xAI, the combined company is now valued at an estimated $1.25 trillion and is widely expected to pursue a public offering.
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