He was officially hired as a „special government employee,“ which is a role Congress created in 1962 that allows the executive or legislative branch to hire temporary employees for specific short-term initiatives.
Special government employees are permitted to work for the federal government for „no more than 130 days in a 365-day period,“ according to data from the Office of Government Ethics. Musk‘s 130-day timeframe, beginning on Inauguration Day, was set to run dry on May 30.