Last November, the Senate Commerce Committee invited executives from GM and Stellantis to testify at a hearing ostensibly aimed at auto affordability. Of course, Ford CEO Jim Farley was also invited to attend. But two factors seemingly doomed the hearing: it was set to take place on January 14th - the opening day of the 2026 Detroit Auto Show, and Tesla CEO Elon Musk was not invited. A Ford lawyer cited Musk's omission to object to Farley attending the hearing, and GM followed suit. Yesterday, the chair of the committee, and the architect of the postponed meeting clearly indicated that he's not happy with how things turned out.
In an interview Tuesday, Senate Commerce Committee Chair Ted Cruz (R-Texas) told Politico that Ford CEO Jim Farley was too scared to testify. He also levied several invectives against the CEO and Ford in general about its overall product strategy. “I don’t know if he was scared about having lost $19 billion for Ford shareholders on the misguided Ford Lightning or if he was embarrassed at having tried to swindle American taxpayers out of hundreds of millions of dollars by gaming the expiration of the EV tax credit,” Cruz said. “But for whatever reason, he made the decision that testifying to Congress was too terrifying for him to be willing to do so.” Cruz also indicated that he may subpoena Farley to testify at a future hearing.
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