One crucial aspect that we need to hear more about from GOP Presidential candidates is their stance on addressing the significant overreach of the Department of Justice. This overreach has extended to targeting Christian parents and various individuals who have voiced dissent against the establishment. The Biden Administration often perceives such voices as threats. Currently, they are once again focusing their attention on Elon Musk. The DOJ has filed a lawsuit against his company, SpaceX, citing discriminatory practices due to its refusal to hire asylum seekers or refugees.
It’s worth noting that Musk has been vocal about this stance for years. He attributes SpaceX’s policy to one core issue: the challenge of hiring individuals from countries other than the US. Unfortunately, this isn’t within SpaceX’s control. Stringent US government regulations and the complexities of working on rocket technology, classified as advanced weapons technology, make hiring non-US citizens difficult. Even standard work visas aren’t sufficient for such roles.
It’s important to clarify that SpaceX’s preference for hiring individuals with green cards is not due to a mere desire, but rather because they are restricted by government regulations. The government contradicts Musk’s assertion, stating that he can indeed hire asylees and refugees for rocket and weapons technology roles. While I personally hold reservations about this practice, they argue that it’s within the bounds of the law.
Musk, despite his generally liberal stance, differs from the populist camp on this matter. Joining us now is David Sacks, a close friend and former colleague of Elon Musk. He’s also a partner at Craft Ventures and co-host of the All In podcast. Now, David, setting aside the ideological differences with Musk on who should work on Rocket technology, what’s your perspective on the DOJ’s lawsuit? Is it fundamentally about a disagreement on the statute, or might there be other motivations at play?
Well, Laura, I believe that at its core, the DOJ is claiming that SpaceX has been hiring too many Americans. They argue that the company should have hired fewer American citizens and green card holders, and instead prioritized hiring refugees. The truly baffling aspect here, as highlighted in the video, is that Musk never intended to adopt this policy willingly. He’s asserting that the law mandated it. This law is known as ITAR (International Traffic in Arms Regulations), which governs how companies dealing with advanced weapons and rocket technology manage classified information. This understanding was prevalent throughout the industry, not exclusive to SpaceX. It was only in April of this year that the DOJ issued a clarification, asserting that these companies must also hire refugees and asylees, categorizing them as U.S. persons. Now, they’re retroactively applying this clarification from 2008 through 2022, holding SpaceX accountable for those 15 years prior to the clarification.
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Let’s shed some light on what this actually entails, as referenced by David. The DOJ is demanding that SpaceX pay back wages, including interest, and provide any other relief deemed appropriate to each qualified individual who faced discrimination. This potentially amounts to a substantial sum of money. David, this seems undeniably punitive, far from a fair application of clarified statutory language.
Absolutely, the remedies they’re seeking are unparalleled. Firstly, they’re pushing for civil penalties to be paid to the DOJ by SpaceX. Beyond that, as you mentioned, they’re insisting on compensating anyone who was rejected, assuming they would have not only been hired but would have remained employed by SpaceX for all those years. This presupposition disregards the rigorous hiring process at SpaceX. Furthermore, it’s important to note that this level of scrutiny likely wouldn’t be directed towards any other company. It seems Elon Musk is being targeted due to his beliefs and association with platforms like X, formerly known as Twitter. Thank you for your insights, David.