White House says Elon Musk serving as a 'special government employee'
Elon Musk is serving in the Trump administration as a "special government employee," according to a White House official.
It's a designation that means Musk, the tech tycoon and fierce Trump ally whom President Donald Trump has launched on a cost-cutting mission across the federal government, is working neither as a volunteer nor a full-time employee. Special government employees are asked to abide by conflict of interest requirements and ethics policies that are typically less onerous than federal employees. As a temporary position, it bypasses some of the disclosure obligations required of full-time roles.
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A person familiar with the role said that these types of employees can work up to 130 days in a calendar year and that the days can be split up (i.e. Musk can work half a day and that will only count as half a day).
Trump had tapped Musk to lead the "Department of Government Efficiency" (DOGE,) which was formed after Trump renamed the U.S. Digital Service as the U.S. DOGE Service and established DOGE within the Executive Office of the President by executive order on his first day in office.
The executive order to reorganize USDS gave DOGE a mandate to "maximize governmental efficiency and productivity," and DOGE team members can include agency personnel or newly hired temporary staff who, like Musk, are designated as special government employees.
Musk's SpaceX has won billions in government contracts with the federal government, which critics have