If the Democrats win one or both houses of Congress, Politico is reporting that on top of their agenda is to wage lawfare against Elon Musk, the CEO of SpaceX and Tesla and the world’s richest man. The gavels are warming up for a myriad of investigations into Musk and his businesses. Such a move could have profound effects on American space policy and politics, particularly the Artemis return to the moon program.

SpaceX is one of the businesses that the Democrats would like to delve into. Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.), a ranking member of the House Science, Space, and Technology Committee, claims that the “The sheer number of conflicts of interest are astounding.”The problem is that the next two years are going to be crucial for the Artemis return to the moon program. Artemis III, which will test the two Human Landing Systems, including the SpaceX Starship, is scheduled for 2027. The first moon landing is slated for the following year, 2028. NASA recently revealed the latest progress toward accomplishing that feat.

In the meantime, the Starship is slated for a series of tests that will lead to it becoming an operational vehicle which, among other tasks, will land the first astronauts on the lunar surface since Apollo 17 in 1972.

What a Democratic-controlled Congress might do to place the next moon landing in peril due to its expressed anger at Musk is a matter of speculation. Recently, Bulwark podcaster Kara Swisher suggested that Democrats might actually try to put Musk in jail. Some have even proposed nationalizing SpaceX. It is like a plot line from an Ayn Rand novel.

Even if Democrats hang back from some of the most extreme lawfare tactics against Musk, they can eat up time he might better spend running his companies byy forcing him to attend committee hearing after committee hearing to answer their charges. Musk is a very hands-on manager, and his absence would slow progress on projects ranging from his space-based data centers to getting the Starship ready for lunar landings.

NASA also has the Blue Origin Human Landing System as an option for the Artemis IV moon landing mission. But recent experience with the commercial crew program suggests that two options are better than one where flight hardware is concerned.

Congressional Democrats might want to rethink their plans to wage lawfare on Musk for a variety of reasons. The primary reason is that the Artemis program enjoys wide bipartisan support. Any delays in that program caused by attempts at political retribution risk having the Chinese steal a march on NASA and its international and commercial allies and accomplishing the first moon landing in more than 50 years. The political ramifications would be beyond evaluation, especially if congressional Democrats are to blame.

While Musk has his detractors, as any glance at social media posts would reveal, he remains to many to be the coolest capitalist of them all, purveyor of rocket ships, electric cars and the hope of curing blindness and paralysis with his Neuralink technology. Persecuting such a man risks a backlash.

Also, Musk himself has vowed to fight, warning, “Live by the sword, die by the sword.”Such a warning from a man with Musk’s power, money and influence should not be taken lightly. His pouring of unprecedented amounts of money into midterm campaigns could be seen as the opening shot of such a retaliation, Musk also enjoys the friendship of President Trump, the most powerful man in the world, who is also not afraid of using power and has vowed to use it to defend the SpaceX CEO If congressional Democrats win back control of one or both houses of Congress (or even if they don’t), they might want to consider doing one of the hardest things to do in politics: take an enemy and make him a friend.

Musk was once a friend and ally of President Barack Obama. Now he sits at Trump’s right hand. Something must have happened to cause this. Democrats should delve into that question and find a way to win Musk back or at least make him apolitical. The effort could be more fruitful than trying to put Musk into prison.

Then sometime in 2028, every American — Republican, Democrat and independent — will be able to bask in the triumph of Americans walking on the moon once again, knowing that a Musk unfettered by subpoenas had much to do with it.

Mark R. Whittington, who writes frequently about space policy, has published a political study of space exploration entitled “Why is It So Hard to Go Back to the Moon?” as well as “The Moon, Mars and Beyond” and, most recently, “Why is America Going Back to the Moon?”He blogs at Curmudgeons Corner.