Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump, left, and Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk appear on stage at a campaign event at the Butler Farm Show, Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024, in Butler, Pa.Elon Musk is a special government employee.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed the tech billionaire’s official title to CNN’s Kaitlan Collins on Monday.
Watch here:
.@PressSec on Elon Musk: "I can confirm he's a special government employee. I can also confirm that he has abided by all applicable federal laws. As for his security clearance, I'm not sure, but I can check...I don't know about the security clearance, but I can check." pic.twitter.com/86LzC55ocD
— CSPAN (@cspan) February 3, 2025
According to the Justice Department website:
“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.”
And:
“Special government employees are subject to most rules, although sometimes in a less restrictive way.”
Musk is “not a volunteer but also not a full-time federal employee,” CNN explained his position on Monday.
The richest person in the world spent more than $290 million backing President Donald Trump and Republicans in the 2024 elections. He is now running the non-official Department of Government Efficiency, which is looking to significantly slash public spending.
Musk wrote on his social media platform X, formerly Twitter: “My preferred title is just ‘Tech Support.’”
