WASHINGTON, April 10 (Reuters) - Two U.S. House of

Representatives lawmakers on Thursday asked the Transportation

Department's top ethics official to detail how the agency is

addressing Elon Musk's potential conflicts of interest given

ongoing investigations of SpaceX and Tesla, companies

run by the close ally of President Donald Trump.

"Mr. Musk remains in charge of a sprawling private sector

business empire that continues to rely on billions of dollars in

government funding and has been charged with managing his own

conflicts of interest," wrote Representative Gerald Connolly,

top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee, and

Representative Emily Randall on Thursday. "This arrangement is

corrupt on its face and threatens accountable, democratic

governance."

The Transportation Department, White House and Tesla did not

immediately respond to requests for comment.

Musk, a senior Trump adviser, has led the effort to

dramatically shrink the size of the federal government through

the so-called Department of Government Efficiency.

"Mr. Musk continues to profit from taxpayer dollars and now

finds himself in charge of determining which federal contracts

the government will keep and which will be cut -- an arrangement

that runs afoul of the law," the letter said.

The letter noted that the Federal Aviation Administration in

September proposed fining SpaceX $633,000 for violating launch

license requirements and that the National Highway Traffic

Safety Administration has five pending investigations into

Tesla.

One of those covers 2.4 million Tesla vehicles equipped with

Full Self-Driving software after four reported collisions,

including a fatal 2023 crash.

In February, NHTSA laid off 4% of its staff as part of a

government-wide trimming of probationary employees. USDOT

overall has cut hundreds of employees and about 4,000 department

employees this week sought to take voluntary buyouts.

The letter seeks "a detailed and complete list of all steps

DOT is taking to ensure compliance with all relevant conflicts

of interest and ethics laws pertaining to Mr. Musk's

businesses."

The letter also wants a list of actions to ensure Musk

"is not permitted access to information that would give Mr.

Musk's businesses an advantage over competitors."

Numerous lawmakers have raised questions about the potential

for Musk to interfere or take over a $2.4 billion FAA

telecommunications contract with Verizon.

Musk, who owns satellite company Starlink, has sharply

criticized the current FAA telecom system. Starlink has denied

it wants to take over any FAA contract.