Elon Musk has a lot of jobs—Tesla CEO, SpaceX CEO, xAI founder, Chairman and Chief Technology Officer of X—to name a few. But when it comes to the richest person in the world’s role with the U.S. government and the newly created via executive order DOGE, things haven’t been as clear—until now.
Musk is considered a “special government employee,” and is officially serving under President Donald Trump, White House officials confirmed on Monday. He’s leading the DOGE team, which is identifying and eliminating government waste, fraud, and abuse, according to the agency.
Related: Elon Musk Says DOGE Is Working ‘120 Hour’ Weeks While ‘Bureaucratic Opponents’ Work 40
Trump also confirmed on Monday that Musk’s team has access to the Treasury Department’s critical payment system, which is what the federal government uses to send payments.
“Elon can’t do and won’t do anything without our approval,” Trump said. “And we’ll give him the approval where appropriate. Where not appropriate, we won’t.”
CNN reports that Musk is not being paid, according to a source who knows about his employment, though it’s not like he’ll need it—he’s worth $433 billion as of press time, per Bloomberg.
According to the U.S. Department of Justice, “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 must be impartial in performing their duties.
“The standards of conduct address matters that do not affect your financial interests but which could reflect on your impartiality,” the description reads.
