Elon Musk gave GOP senators his number. Just don't ask them about it.

Bryan Metzger

Thu, Mar 6, 2025, 4:42 PM 5 min read

• GOP senators got a hold of Elon Musk's cell phone number this week.

• They don't want to talk about it.

• Having a direct line to Musk is a hot commodity in the age of DOGE.

Republican senators just got their hands on Elon Musk's cell phone number, giving them a direct line to the man who's been reshaping the federal bureaucracy at President Donald Trump's behest.

Many of them don't want to talk about it.

"I'm not gonna answer that question, okay? What's your next one?" Sen. Roger Marshall of Kansas said. "I don't think it's anyone's business."

Business Insider approached half a dozen Republican senators at the Capitol on Thursday to ask them if they've had any text conversations with Musk, or whether they anticipate doing so in the future. Only one — Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina — confirmed CNN's reporting that Musk gave out his number during a lunch with most Senate Republicans on Wednesday.

"I haven't texted with him. I don't have a need to do that," Tillis told BI, adding that if DOGE is "going into any areas where we're looking at potential job impacts or other impacts, I know I can give him a call."

Having the power to call up Musk is a precious commodity in the age of DOGE, with the promise of influencing the man who's been working with a team of lieutenants to shutter whole agencies, access sensitive systems, and choke off streams of federal funding — all without the formal input of Congress. At times, his power has seemed to exceed that of Cabinet secretaries and rival that of Trump himself.

Perhaps that's why some GOP senators don't want to even acknowledge whether they were offered his number.

"I'm not getting into all that. If you have a policy question, I'm happy to answer that," Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky told BI. "That's all I got for you. Sorry."

"I'm not gonna confirm or deny that," Sen. Eric Schmitt of Missouri told BI. "I've met with him twice in the last two weeks. He's been very accessible."

There's also an awareness of the power that Musk — not just the de facto head of DOGE, but the owner of what may be the world's most important communication platform, X — holds relative to them. And some of them don't hide their own sense of awe at the Tesla and SpaceX CEO.

Sen. Ted Cruz did not confirm or deny that Musk gave out his number on Wednesday. But the Texas Republican said he's had Musk's number for years and that he's a "good friend." When asked what the billionaire businessman is like over text, Cruz launched into a two-and-a-half minute-long disquisition about Musk's brilliance and business acumen.