The City of Boulder and several nonprofit organizations whose work is being undercut by Elon Musk’s DOGE share the Colorado lobbying firm Headwaters Strategies with Musk’s Tesla, finds lobbying accountability group F Minus. Activity disclosures for 2024-25 show the firm lobbying for these non-Musk clients in support of numerous climate, housing, civil rights, and DEI initiatives that are direct or indirect targets of DOGE funding cuts. F Minus has called on local governments, nonprofits, and other victims of DOGE to cut ties with firms that represent companies owned by Musk.
Headwaters Strategies’ recent environmental advocacy includes support for an environmental justice bill on behalf of the Environmental Defense Action Fund (SB24-1339). Yet under DOGE, the Environmental Protection Agency is being forced to close all of its environmental justice offices and its research arm. On behalf of the City of Boulder, the firm lobbied for a bill to strengthen local governments’ authority to regulate pesticides (SB24-1178). But in Mar. 2025, the Trump Administration advanced a rule that would prohibit states from requiring warning labels on pesticides. Other environmental clients of the firm are Colorado Nature League and Western Resource Advocates, for whom the firm helped pass a bill (SB24-230) that will use oil and gas fees to restore wildlife habitats.
DOGE has cut and eliminated federal programs that support DEI initiatives and protect the rights of transgender people. In 2024-25, Headwaters lobbied on numerous bills to protect and expand the rights of transgender people on behalf of One Colorado. In 2024, on behalf of the City of Boulder, the firm helped pass a bill commissioning a study of racial equity for Black Coloradans (SB24-053). Yet across a growing list of federal agencies, workers have been targeted for firing by DOGE for having words such as “diversity” or “equity” in their job titles or job descriptions.
On housing policy, Headwaters has lobbied for the City of Boulder, Rose Community Foundation, and The Bell Policy Center in support of legislation dealing with tenants’ rights and housing availability. DOGE has proposed cutting staff at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development by 50%, which a Mar. 2025 study by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities finds will make it harder for people to afford housing.
“DOGE’s and Musk’s drastic cuts to environmental and social programs are making the Tesla brand toxic to many people,” said James Browning, Executive Director of F Minus. “But in Colorado, Musk and Tesla get to have it both ways by sharing a lobbying firm with DOGE victims. This is a huge PR win for Tesla, to share a firm with progressive clients who are pushing for the kinds of environmental protections and DEI initiatives that Musk wants to cut.”
In 2024, F Minus and Brown University’s Climate and Development Lab released a study of lobbying conflicts in Colorado that identified a culture of lobbyists serving as “double agents,” or being paid to lobby for and against the same bills on behalf of different clients. “For local governments and many nonprofits, having their firm work for Musk at this moment is also a conflict because it legitimizes Musk,” Browning said.