Elon Musk serving as 'special government employee' – what does that mean?
WASHINGTON - Elon Musk has been named as a "special government employee," according to the White House.
The billionaire entrepreneur behind the electric automaker Tesla and the rocket company SpaceX was tapped by President Donald Trump to oversee the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) with a mission to reduce wasteful spending and "maximize governmental efficiency and productivity."
In doing so, Musk has rapidly consolidated control over large swaths of the federal government with Trump’s blessing, sidelining career officials, gaining access to sensitive databases and dismantling USAID – a leading source of humanitarian assistance.
FILE - Tesla, SpaceX and X CEO Elon Musk gestures while speaking during an inauguration event at Capital One Arena on Jan. 20, 2025, in Washington, D.C. (Photo by Christopher Furlong/Getty Images)
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What is a ‘special government employee?’
What we know:
A "special government employee" (or SGE) is an officer or employee in the executive branch "who is appointed to perform important, but limited, services to the government, with or without compensation," according to an online definition by the U.S. Department of the Interior. These services can only be for a period of up to 130 days in a calendar year.
"This status is important because the ethics rules apply differently to individuals who qualify as SGEs versus other federal employees and officials," the department says.
Musk serving as special government employee
What we know:
Musk being named as a special government employee subjects him to less stringent rules on ethics and financial disclosures than other workers. Trump has given Musk office space in the White House complex where he oversees a team of people at DOGE. The team has been dispersed throughout federal agencies to gather information and deliver edicts. Some of them were spotted on Monday at the Department of Education, which Trump has vowed to abolish.
On Monday, Musk targeted the Washington headquarters for the U.S. Agency for International Development, or USAID, where yellow police tape blocked access to the lobby and hundreds of employees were locked out of computer systems. Musk said Trump had agreed to let him shutter the agency.
"It’s not an apple with a worm in it, what we have is just a ball of worms," Musk said of the world's largest provider of humanitarian, development and security assistance. "You’ve got to basically get rid of the whole thing. It’s beyond repair."
In addition, Musk has turned his attention to the General Services Administration, or GSA, which manages federal government buildings. An email sent last week from the Washington headquarters instructed regional managers to begin terminating leases on roughly 7,500 federal offices nationwide.
Musk’s DOGE team has also gained access to the U.S. Treasury payment system, which is responsible for 1 billion payments per year, totaling $5 trillion. It includes sensitive information involving bank accounts and Social Security payments. It’s unclear what Musk wants to do with the payment system. He’s claimed that he could trim $1 trillion from the federal deficit "just by addressing waste, fraud and abuse."
Since its official creation last month, DOGE's X account has provided updates on its work to cut government spending, including announcing that it has cut more than $1 billion from federal spending through now-defunct diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives and personnel.
The backstory:
Musk backed Trump’s successful presidential campaign and spent roughly $250 million supporting him through America PAC, which included door-to-door canvassing and digital advertising.
Trump and Musk had long previewed the creation of DOGE while on the campaign trail, championing that the team would weed out overspending and fraud within the federal government. DOGE is not a government department, but instead operates as a team within the Trump administration.
"A lot of people just don’t understand where inflation comes from. Inflation comes from government overspending because the checks never bounce when it’s written by the government," Musk said during an interview with Trump on X in August. "So if the government spends far more than it brings in, that increases the money supply. If the money supply increases faster than the rate of goods and services, that’s inflation."
What they're saying:
Republicans have defended Musk as simply carrying out Trump’s slash-and-burn campaign promises. Trump made no secret of his desire to put Musk in charge of retooling the federal government.
"Elon can’t do and won’t do anything without our approval," Trump told reporters in the Oval Office on Monday.
Trump also downplayed concerns about Musk’s conflict of interests as he flexes his power over the bureaucracy even though his businesses face regulatory scrutiny and have federal contracts.
"Where we think there’s a conflict or there’s a problem, we won’t let him go near it, but he has some very good ideas," Trump said.
Musk has also described his work overhauling the federal government in existential terms, making it clear that he would push as hard and as far as he could.
"If it’s not possible now, it will never be possible. This is our shot," he said. "This is the best hand of cards we’re ever going to have. If we don’t take advantage of this best hand of cards, it’s never going to happen."
The other side:
Critics have pointed out that none of Musk’s actions have happened with congressional approval – inviting a constitutional clash over the limits of presidential authority.
"We will do everything in our power in the Senate and the House to stop this outrage," Sen. Chris Van Hollen of Maryland said. "And in the meantime, since we don’t have many Republican colleagues who want to help us, we are doing everything we can with our colleagues through the courts to make sure that we uphold the rule of law."
Regarding Musk’s access to the payment system, Sen. Tammy Baldwin, a Wisconsin Democrat, called it "the biggest data hack ever in the world."
"I am outraged about it," she added.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, a Democrat from New York, said Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent must revoke his access to the payment system and called it an "unlawful and dangerous power grab."
The Source: This story was reported using information shared by the White House, Elon Musk, and politicians commenting on Musk's plans and actions. It was reported from Cincinnati, and the Associated Press and FOX News contributed.