Elon Musk Named as 'Special Government Employee'

Elon Musk is rapidly consolidating control over large swaths of the federal government with President Trump's blessing, sidelining career officials, gaining access to sensitive databases, and dismantling a leading source of humanitarian assistance, the AP reports. Musk has been named as a special government employee, which subjects him to less stringent rules on ethics and financial disclosures than other workers.

• The designation means Musk is neither a full-time government employee nor a volunteer, NBC News reports. Such employees are limited to working "no more than 130 days during any period of 365 days," according to the Congressional Research Service.

• Trump has given Musk office space in the White House complex where he oversees a team of people at the Department of Government Efficiency. The team has been dispersed throughout federal agencies to gather information and deliver edicts. Some of them were spotted on Monday at the Department of Education, which Trump has vowed to abolish.
• Sources tell CNN that Musk has a top secret security clearance and is not being paid.
• Trump said Monday that Musk won't always get his way, reports NBC News. "Elon can't do and won't do anything without our approval, and we'll give him the approval where appropriate; where not appropriate, we won't," Trump said.

• Democrats, for their part, accused Musk of leading a coup from within the government by amassing unaccountable and illegal power. "We will do everything in our power in the Senate and the House to stop this outrage," Sen. Chris Van Hollen said. "And in the meantime, since we don't have many Republican colleagues who want to help us, we are doing everything we can with our colleagues through the courts to make sure that we uphold the rule of law."
• The apex of Musk's work so far came on Monday at the Washington headquarters for the US Agency for International Development, or USAID, where yellow police tape blocked access to the lobby and hundreds of employees were locked out of computer systems. Musk said Trump had agreed to let him shutter the agency. Secretary of State Marco Rubio later said he was the acting administrator of USAID.

(More Elon Musk stories.)