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White House confirms Elon Musk, world's richest man, as ‘special government employee’ working for Trump without pay
Musk spent over $290 million last year in a bid to assist Donald Trump in the US presidential race against former Vice President, Democrat Kamala Harris.
A White House official told the Associated Press that the world's richest man, Elon Musk, is working for US President Donald Trump as a “special government employee.”
The Tesla CEO has also been granted a government email address and office space. However, the official, who spoke on anonymity, claimed that Musk was not paid for his work.
In the US, special government employees are usually appointed to their positions for up to 130 days. Trump also approved Musk's work on Sunday after returning to Washington from his weekend in Florida.
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“I think Elon is doing a good job. He’s a big cost-cutter," the Republican president said. “Sometimes we won’t agree with it, and we’ll not go where he wants to go. But I think he’s doing a great job,” AP quoted Trump saying.
Fresh documents filed with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) recently revealed that Musk spent over $290 million last year in a bid to assist GOP leader Trump in the US presidential race against former Vice President, Democrat Kamala Harris.
Democrats fear that Musk, who heads the newly created Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), is consolidating power within the federal government, acting without accountability and potentially against the law.
Concerns of conflict of interest have also been raised against Musk as his company, SpaceX, has billions of dollars worth of contracts with the federal government.
Trump said that Musk is only implementing things with prior approval and “will not be allowed to go places where there is a conflict”.
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The applicability of standard rules on ethics agreements and financial disclosures to Musk remains unclear for now. The official said that it is unlikely that he will need to file a public financial disclosure report under current federal government guidelines. He also refused to divulge more details but confirmed that Musk was “following the law”.
