Elon Musk is expected to use office space in the White House building as he launches the so-called Department of Government Efficiency, which aims to reduce government spending in the Trump administration, according to two people briefed on the plans.
The space expected to be used by Mr. Musk is in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, which is near the White House. This place will allow Mr. Musk, who owns companies with multibillion-dollar contracts with the federal government, is expected to continue to have significant access to President-elect Donald J. Trump when he takes office this month.
Mr. Musk has had discussions with transition officials about what his level of access to the West Wing would be, but that was unclear, according to two people briefed on the matter. Employees and others who can come and go freely in the West Wing usually need a special pass.
Mr. Musk donated hundreds of millions to help Mr. Trump won the 2024 election and has been around him ever since, often using one of the cottages available for rent on Mr. Trump at Mar-a-Lago. During the transition, he sat in on official meetings and one foreign phone call, and deliberated on staff and cabinet choices.
It is not clear whether Vivek Ramaswamy, the partner of Mr.
The Musk-Ramaswamy project is called the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, but it's not a “department” in the sense of the Justice Department — an executive, part of the government authorized by Congress. The status of Mr. Musk and the project have raised many issues regarding the laws of outsiders who help exercise government power.
DOGE staff currently work in the Washington, DC, offices of Mr. Musk's SpaceX.
Officials with the Trump administration and associated with DOGE did not respond to requests for comment.
The work surrounding the DOGE has so far been shrouded in secrecy, as the reform reveals little about how it will operate, or how it will be budgeted.
It remains to be seen whether the group of Mr. How big will Musk be, and what will be his situation. Some reform officials have suggested he could become a “special public servant,” a status that is unpaid or unpaid and has more flexible rules on personal financial disclosure than are required of regular employees.
If he can do that, Mr. Musk, the richest man in the world, would probably give up his salary. But there could be legal ramifications for how the Trump administration ends up defining Mr. Trump's role. Musk and how DOGE fits into the bureaucracy of the executive branch.
Another issue involves ethics rules, including financial disclosure and the prohibition of certain conflicts of interest, such as restrictions on the ability of former special government employees to lobby certain private interests after working on relevant topics during temporary service.
In particular, all government employees, including special temporary employees, are subject to a criminal conflict of interest law that prevents them from participating in official matters in which they or their families or organizations have a financial interest. Because some of Mr.
If Mr. Musk or his employees will be special government employees, who will have to file financial disclosure forms. If they decide to skip the big government payrolls, however, the Trump administration can keep those records secret from the public.
It will also affect government transparency laws.
One such law is the Federal Advisory Committee Act, governing boards, panels, councils and other types of committees that work with people outside of government to provide advice to the executive branch.
If Mr. Musk does not seek the special status of a public servant for himself and all his employees and everyone who gives an opinion, the act can be seen to apply to the work of the DOGE. Among other things, the law states that all meetings of those committees must be held in public, and all documents sent to that committee or produced by it must be available to the public.
Mr. Musk has not yet decided whether he will take on the status and responsibilities of a special civil servant, according to his supporters.
Another important issue is the Freedom of Information Act, or FOIA. It allows members of the media or the public to request access to official records, without certain restrictions, and to file lawsuits with court orders requiring their disclosure.
The president and his close White House staff whose job is only to advise him are considered exempt from FOIA requests. But many officials around are subject to such requests.
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