New court filings from the Trump administration said Elon Musk is neither the administrator of the Department of Government Efficiency, nor is he a DOGE employee.
He is described as an adviser to the president working within the White House as a special government employee.
The court filings also claim that DOGE has no power to order personnel decisions at various agencies that came up at hearing today in DC federal court.
His designation as a special government employee means billionaire tech entrepreneur Musk is not a volunteer but also not a full-time federal employee.
A special government employee is “anyone who works, or is expected to work, for the government for 130 days or less in a 365-day period,” according to a Justice Department summary. Musk is not being paid, and he has a top-secret security clearance.
Some context: Musk, who is the world’s richest man and became an ardent supporter of President Donald Trump’s during the campaign, has an office on the White House campus. Within weeks of Trump taking office, Musk has shown he has a broad mandate to carry out his government efficiency initiative.
The designation also makes Musk subject to many government ethics standards, but not all of them. It remains to be seen if Musk’s designation requires him to file a financial disclosure that will be made public.
