Tech billionaire Elon Musk (53) in his role as the most important cost lowerer of Donald Trump (78) Get an official status in Washington. He was a “special government agent,” said the spokeswoman for the White House, Karoline Leavitt. All applicable laws were also met, she said without further details.
It is the first time that the White House commented on what legal basis Musk is currently acting in Washington. US President Trump had entrusted him with the lowering of government spending. For this purpose, a body called Doge (Department of Government Efficiency) was founded after a name proposal from Musk. It is a body connected to the White House. Incidentally, Musk markets the Memecoin “Doge Coin” on his platform X.
Musk drove the closure of USAID
It is not yet known whether Musk has an official title at Doge. On his online platform X, however, he has been commenting on how he and Doge will shorten the government spending. Among other things, he left no doubt that he drove the extensive closure of the development agency USAID. He also apparently has direct Get access to the US Ministry of Finance payment system And can see the personal data of millions of Americans.
Ethics rules now also apply to Musk
The status as a “special government agent” (Special Government Employee) brings with it some restrictions. Among other things, he is intended for people who do not work for the government for more than 130 days in a period of 365 days. Musk had originally created the reduction plans for Doge for two years.
Ethics rules also apply to such employees. This includes not being involved in matters that affect their financial interests.
Musk is, among other things, the head of the electric car maker Tesla and the space company Spaceex, which also carries out many rocket starts on behalf of the US government. Around the SpaceX company headquarters in South Texas Plant Musk its own city
. SpaceX is controlled by the Aviation Supervision FAA and several investigations are underway against Tesla at the NHTSA traffic safety authority.