As the public face of the Efficiency Department of the Government of President Donald Trump, the CEO of the multimillionaire Tech, Elon Musk, has an expansive portfolio that extends through the many government levers, and that could cross with its wide range of commercial interests.
But unlike another “special government employee” of high profile that works in the White House of Trump, AI and Crypto Tsar David Sacks, there is no evidence that Musk has obtained an exemption from conflicts of interest. Such exemption would describe the steps he has taken to avoid overlays between his commercial interests and his government work, would include an explanation of the White House Council on why they feel comfortable with the Musk arrangement, and would identify areas where MUSK has the green light to intervene despite its commercial participations.
On the other hand, the White House Secretary, Karoline Leavitt, told NBC News that Musk has already promised that he would avoid possible conflicts of interest and, like all the “special employees of the government” designated by Trump, he is “respecting all applicable laws.”
“For concerns about conflicts of interest between Elon Musk and Doge, President Trump has declared that he will not allow conflicts, and Elon himself has committed to challenge himself of possible conflicts. Doge has been incredibly transparent about what they are doing, publishing daily updates on X and updating his website,” Leavitt said in a statement to NBC News.
“It is a standard practice for administrations to hire people as special government employees to focus on specific issues, depending on their external experience, for a limited period of time,” Leavitt continued, and added: “All SGEs are completing the appropriate paperwork, receiving reports on ethics rules, including conflicts of the rules of interests and remains in all applicable federal laws.”
The White House publicly recognized the Musk position on February 3, announcing that it would serve as a “special government employee”, a designation used by the presidents over the years to allow external experts to provide their knowledge to the government without having to abandon their work in the private sector. The administration has sworn under oath that Musk is a “main advisor of the president”, not a Doge employee, although Trump has repeatedly emphasized that Musk is directing the program there.
It is no secret that the wide business portfolio of Musk, which includes the SpaceX space company and the Tesla electric vehicle company, crosses with a series of government regulators and possible government contracts. That is why Democrats and others have expressed concern about how the government and musk will ensure that these conflicts do not become official decisions of the administration.
Earlier this month, Musk told Fox Business that Dege is “practically” in all Federal Department. In an example of the convergence of the commercial interests of Musk and the federal government, Starlink, its satellite Internet service, is being considered for use in more and more places throughout the federal government. Almizcle companies such as Tesla and Spacex have received billions in subsidies and government contracts, and their interests have been involved in key regulatory battles with the federal government over the years.
Tesla de Musk also depends largely on China for both production and market, a relationship that emerged on Friday after Musk received an informative session in the Pentagon that included a discussion about China. During a conversation with journalists in the Oval Office hours later, Trump denied a report that the informative session would include military plans related to a hypothetical war with China, qualifying Musk a “great patriot” and saying that Musk’s businesses with China would be a reason not to show him something like that.
“I don’t want to show that to anyone, but certainly I wouldn’t show it to a businessman who is helping us so much. He is a great patriot. He is paying a great price to help us reduce costs, and he is doing a great job. He is finding a great waste, fraud and abuse,” Trump said.
“But I would certainly not want, you know, Elon has business in China, and it would be susceptible, perhaps, but it was such a false story,” Trump continued.
The restrictions around ‘Special Government Employees’
As “Special Government Employee”, Musk is subject to a series of legal restrictions and railings aimed at protecting the US people from concerns about conflicts of interest or an external advisor that obtains financial profits from their advice to the president.
The Federal Law prohibits all employees of the executive branch of “substantially” who participate in a “particular issue” in which they, their immediate family or commercial partners have a “financial interest”, although that issue must have a “direct and predictable effect in that interest” to be prohibited.
If Musk sat in certain types of government committees, he could receive an exemption if the need for his services was considered to exceed conflict concerns. But Musk is not publicly linked to a committee that would qualify.
Without any indication that qualify for this type of exemption, Musk could also receive an exemption from conflict of interest under a stricter standard: that “financial interest is not so substantial that it is considered probable that it affects the integrity of employee services.” But it is not clear if Musk sought or received an exemption from conflict of interest.
In response to a NBC news consultation about a possible exemption for Musk, the White House lawyer’s office replied that “the White House has no disseminations that respond to its application.” And although some ethics documents are not immediately available for their launch, but become public after the presentation, the White House Press Office did not directly address if Musk has sought or received an exemption from conflicts of interest that has not yet been published publicly.
Another special government employee, Sacks, received an exemption from conflicts of interest, which has been publicly published in the Public Dissemination Portal of the White House (the Federal Law requires publicly publishing these documents on request). That 11 -page memorandum, written by the White House lawyer, David Warrington, provides a road map to the types of conflict rules that govern the Government’s special employees. The memorandum shows how Sacks has tried to get rid of its assets to satisfy White House lawyers, and demonstrates why you are receiving an exemption from conflicts of interest in the first place that allows it to participate in “certain particular matters regarding the regulation and policy related to the digital asset industry.”
“For its very nature, the position of special advisor for AI and Crypto requires a designated with extensive experience and practice in financial technology and innovation, with an intimate knowledge of the digital asset industry. It would be extremely difficult to find such experience if the financial technology executives, the founders of the software company and the capital investors of Venture de Venture, and the interests of the interests in the position of the assets of the interests of interest. The position of the position of the position of the position of the position of the position of the position of the interest reports “.
“A central impulse for modern laws of conflict of interests of the nation … It was a recognition that in matters of technology, science and innovation, the government required that private sector leaders provide their knowledge and experience to the configuration of national public policy,” Warrington added.
Neither Sacks nor Musk have to present a public financial dissemination. (The disseminations they have to present can remain private unless they begin to obtain a substantial salary of the government).
A White House official told NBC News that the White House lawyer’s office examines all the “special employees of the government” and advises them the limits of where they can and cannot participate. And the official added that the external commercial interests of the “special employees of the government” is a characteristic, not an error, since the objective of the State is to allow successful people to give their experience to the federal government.
But the lack of a public exemption, combined with the extensive commercial interests and the impact of Musk over the federal government, raises concerns of some ethical officials, including those who have been critical of Trump and their administration on the conflict of interest in the past.
“An exemption from conflict of interests for Musk could not be justified,” Walter Shaub, former director of the United States Government Ethics Office that resigned a few months in Trump’s first mandate, wrote in an email. “Elon Musk is the richest individual in the world who is a government contractor. The American people have all the reasons to want their tax dollars and the resources of their national government only serve their interests, not the interests of the contractor of the multi -million dollar government who now seems to have caught their fingers in everything that the Government does.”
