Some working for the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) are “federal employees,” Elon Musk said in an interview with Fox News‘ Sean Hannity airing on Tuesday night.

The Context

DOGE is tasked with finding financial waste in the federal budget and suggesting cuts. Trump selected Musk to direct DOGE after winning the presidential election in November.

It’s not clear how many DOGE employees are classified as “federal” workers. The Trump administration has previously said that some people who work for the White House task force are “special government employees.”

Newsweek reached out to the White House for comment via email Tuesday night.

What To Know

“Nobody at DOGE gets paid a penny, correct?” Hannity asked Musk.

“Well, actually, some people are federal employees,” the SpaceX CEO replied. “But it’s fair to say that the software engineers at DOGE could be earning millions of dollars a year and instead are earning a small fraction of that as federal employees.”

President Donald Trump, who sat for the interview alongside Musk, also brought the billionaire on as a “special government employee.”

The Justice Department defines a special government employee as someone who “works, or is expected to work, for the government for 130 days or less in a 365-day period,” with or without being paid.

The full scope of Musk’s role, which is not congressionally authorized, became even murkier this week after the White House said in a legal filing that Musk is not the head of DOGE.

Musk is “an employee of the White House Office” and “holds a position as a non-career Special Government Employee,” the filing said. “Like other senior White House advisors, Mr Musk has no actual or formal authority to make government decisions himself.”

“Mr. Musk is not the U.S. DOGE Service Administrator,” the filing said.

Musk and DOGE are defendants in a bevy of lawsuits alleging that the Tesla CEO does not have the authority to purge government agencies and fire federal workers en masse.

A federal judge handed Musk a partial victory in one of the suits earlier Tuesday, as she denied a request from 14 states for a temporary restraining order blocking Musk from accessing sensitive information and firing government employees.

But U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan appeared open to considering whether Musk’s role altogether is unconstitutional.

“Plaintiffs legitimately call into question what appears to be the unchecked authority of an unelected individual and an entity that was not created by Congress and over which it has no oversight,” Chutkan wrote.

What People Are Saying

Republican Representative Eric Burlison of Missouri wrote on X, formerly Twitter, this month: “Trump didn’t ‘create’ a new agency; he smartly repurposed the United States Digital Service, established by [former President Barack] Obama, into the Department of Government Efficiency. This is all within his constitutional rights to appoint special government employees.”

Senator Elizabeth Warren, a Massachusetts Democrat, post to X on Monday: “🚨Elon Musk’s DOGE operatives are attempting to access confidential tax information — tax returns, bank data, Social Security numbers — for millions of Americans. Illegal access can lead to jail time under federal law. @RonWyden and I are investigating and fighting back.”

Trump wrote on Truth Social this month: “DOGE: BILLIONS OF DOLLARS OF WASTE, FRAUD, AND ABUSE BEING FOUND. CAMPAIGN PROMISE. IMPORTANT FOR AMERICA!!!”

What Happens Next

As the first 100 days of Trump’s second term unfold, DOGE is expected to continue announcing cuts across federal agencies.

Update 2/18/25, 10:55 p.m. ET: This article has been updated with additional information.