WASHINGTON — Elon Musk is joining the federal government after all.
President Donald Trump previously tapped Musk to lead his Department of Government Efficiency, but the tech billionaire, who also serves as the CEO of SpaceX and Tesla, was not technically a federal employee.
Hours after Musk announced a plan to shutter the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) on X, the social media platform he owns, a White House official told USA TODAY he was officially joining the federal government.
Trump made Musk a “special government employee,” the official said. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt later confirmed to reporters that Musk had officially joined the administration. The designation allows Musk to work for the federal government with or without compensation for a limited amount of time. He also received a government email and an office. The administration official said Musk would not receive a paycheck.
Leavitt said she didn’t know the status of Musk’s security clearance or whether he had completed a background check.
“He has abided by all applicable federal laws,” she said.
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The status change affirms that Musk is working in lockstep with Trump, whom he said he ran his plans to dismantle USAID by and had the president’s full backing to pursue. The White House said on Monday that USAID would temporarily be put under Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s control.
It is not clear when Musk received the special government employee designation, which allows him to work for the federal government for 130 days over a year without having to publicly disclose his finances. Former President Joe Biden utilized the same authority to hire a top aide during his administration.
Some of Musk’s early moves, including the USAID plan, have been met with controversy. But on Sunday evening, Trump said he believed Musk, who he tasked with helping him to reduce the size of government, was doing a good job.
“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,” Trump told reporters.
Monday in the Oval Office, the president said he agreed with the steps Musk had taken “for the most part.”
“Elon can’t do and won’t do anything without our approval, and we’ll give him the approval where appropriate. Where it’s not appropriate we won’t, ” Trump said. “But he reports in and he, it’s something that he feels very strongly about, and I’m impressed because he’s running, obviously, a big company.”
Trump pledged to keep Musk away from aspects of the government that could be a conflict of interest.
“Where we think there’s a conflict or there’s a problem we won’t let him go near it but he has some very good ideas,” Trump said.
Contributing: Zac Anderson
Francesca Chambers is a White House Correspondent for USA TODAY. You can follow her on X @fran_chambers.