Musk-led War Commission Triggers Alarms In Pentagon

Pentagon officials warn that Pete Hegseth’s plan for a pair of billionaire defense contractors to help steer the military’s future will produce conflicts of interest that threaten the long-term integrity of the department.

The Defense secretary’s effort, dubbed Project Meridian, asks SpaceX CEO Elon Musk and Anduril founder Palmer Luckey — along with former Republican House Speaker Newt Gingrich — to “map the trajectory of future warfare.” They are supposed to report back in four months.

The Pentagon revealed few details about the commission or the scope of its jurisdiction beyond the four-paragraph memo that authorizes it and an insistence the U.S. needs to “dominate” the next generation of warfare. It’s unclear whether the initiative would give the executives the vast sway Musk enjoyed last year as leader of President Donald Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency. But both Musk and Luckey head companies that have contracts with the Pentagon worth billions of dollars — and nine current and former officials said any preferential access could allow them to funnel even more business their way.

“This is entirely indicative of the decay and oligarchy that has taken over our government and, in many cases, directly through purchasing influence and power and authority, blatantly right in front of us,” said Wes Bryant, a retired Air Force master sergeant who until last year led the Pentagon's civilian harm assessments. “They’re not even trying to hide it anymore.”

The Pentagon said in a statement that the project will be led by MITRE — a nonprofit that manages federally funded research centers — with the added assistance of Emil Michael, the Pentagon’s chief technology officer. The nonprofit, the statement said, will be responsible for the analysis and recommendations and apply “appropriate conflict-of-interest and information safeguards.”

The group has already held two meetings at the Pentagon, at least one of which included Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) and Phil Hegseth, Pete Hegseth’s younger brother, who is serving as an adviser in the department.

It’s not unusual to bring in experts for advisory roles. Past Democrat and Republican Defense chiefs have commissioned wonkish officials and experts to accelerate military tech for decades — from an Eisenhower era task force aimed at rethinking U.S. military strategy toward the Soviet Union to an Obama administration initiative to better link up the Defense Department with Silicon Valley. Eric Schmidt chaired that effort while he was the executive chair of Google’s parent company, Alphabet.

And Gingrich — a onetime presidential candidate whose fascinations include the dangers of electromagnetic pulse weaponry — represents a more typical partisan pick than either Musk or Luckey. Trump selected him for the Defense Policy Board after the 2020 election, although he was never seated. (Gingrich’s wife has also served as Trump’s ambassador to the Vatican.) But Hegseth’s decision to give influential roles to Musk and Luckey — leaders of powerful defense contractors and past donors of Trump — is more unusual.

The role represents yet another potential seat of influence for Musk, whose aggressive bureaucracy-shredding operation last year axed spending, purged staff and spread chaos across the executive branch.

“Of course it is a conflict of interest, and if anything comes of it it will be to the benefit of Elon Musk not the country,” said a former defense official, who, like others, was granted anonymity to talk about internal deliberations.

Anduril, a defense tech company that specializes in autonomous systems, said in a statement that the company would “commit to complying with highest ethical standards where actual conflicts of interest arise” and pointed to the Pentagon’s “long history of soliciting the best ideas about applying innovation and technology to warfighting concepts” from industry.

Gingrich and Musk did not respond to requests for comment.

Democrats immediately suggested the fledgling commission could put another target on Hegseth’s back after the midterms.

“Forgive me if I’m skeptical of entrusting the future of American warfare to people with zero military experience who stand to financially benefit from the decisions they’re making,” said Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.), a member of the Senate Armed Services panel, who has publicly feuded with Hegseth.

Musk has already courted controversy with his department interactions. The world’s richest man did not hear classified plans at a Pentagon briefing last year after outcry over his access within the administration.

Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), a senior member of the Armed Services Committee, called the commission an example of Hegseth “putting his political alliances ahead of our national security.”

The project may arrive too late for any immediate impact. A second former defense official said that the report, which is due in January 2027, won’t make it in time to get into the Pentagon’s 2028 budget.

But even the duo’s presence fueled concern that the tech leaders would further consolidate their grip on Pentagon contracts. The department relies on SpaceX rockets to deliver key systems to orbit and has handed the company two multibillion-dollar contracts to start building out secret satellites constellations. Anduril holds several key Pentagon contracts for counter-drone systems, interceptors, electronic warfare systems and uncrewed fighter jet drones.

“I’d hate to be an Anduril or SpaceX competitor when Palmer and Elon are the ones deciding where money needs to go,” said a defense official.

The duo could help produce some good ideas, officials said. But they could also end up delaying future Pentagon projects, if other companies can prove their commission role has skewed contracts to favor their firms.

“Musk and Luckey should be treated as vendors,” said Bill Hartung, a principal adviser at the nonpartisan Project on Government Oversight. “Not grand strategists.”