SpaceX (SPCX) went public on June 12 in the largest IPO in stock trading history, briefly making CEO Elon Musk a trillionaire. And it seems a few members of Congress are betting that the rocket company can boost their portfolios too.

Rep. John James (R-Mich.) recently disclosed buying SpaceX stock, according to the MarketDash Government Trades page. He purchased between $15,000 and $50,000 worth of shares on June 12—the very first day of trading. On that day, SpaceX shares traded between $149.32 and $176.52.

James is now the fifth member of Congress to own SpaceX stock, joining Rep. John McGuire (R-Va.), Rep. Gil Cisneros (D-Calif.), Rep. Daniel Meuser (R-Pa.), and Sen. Lisa McClain (R-Mich.). Cisneros, Meuser, and McGuire all disclosed purchases after the IPO—on June 18, June 15, and June 15, respectively. McClain became a shareholder before the IPO, with her husband buying a stake in xAI before its merger with SpaceX.

Some of these purchases raise eyebrows. Cisneros and McGuire serve on the House Armed Services Committee, which oversees Pentagon contracts—and SpaceX has plenty of those, along with deals with NASA and Space Force. James sits on the House Energy and Commerce Committee, which has jurisdiction over the Federal Communications Commission, a key regulator for SpaceX. So there's a potential conflict-of-interest angle here, though no rules have been broken.

James's trading history is notable: he made no stock transactions in 2025, and this is his first disclosed trade for 2026. In prior years, he was more active—$1.3 million in stock transactions in 2024 and $873,000 in 2023, according to data from Quiver Quantitative.

James is currently running for governor of Michigan. Prediction market Kalshi gives him an 85% chance of winning the Republican nomination. He's been in Congress since 2023, after losing Senate bids in 2018 and 2020.

So, is this a savvy investment or a political landmine? Either way, SpaceX's IPO has certainly caught the attention of Capitol Hill.