Musk might have violated federal employee ethics law, lawyers say

While he is not technically its leader, Elon Musk, the world’s richest person who has been named a special government employee, is spearheading the Trump administration’s initiative to shrink the federal government that has resulted in mass firings across agencies. 

Nextgov/FCW has reported that Musk might run afoul of federal ethics rules, if he doesn’t recuse himself from decisions that could affect his financial interests, because his company, SpaceX, has received billions in government contracts. 

Lawyers who Government Executive spoke to argued that Musk might have already violated the Hatch Act, a law that limits the political activity of government employees, including special ones. Any penalty, however, is unlikely because President Donald Trump is trying to fire the head of the office that enforces that law and historically top officials have not been punished for breaking its prohibitions. 

When Musk wore a black “Make America Great Again” baseball cap in the Oval Office during an executive order signing on Feb. 11, he might have committed a Hatch Act infraction. 

“Mr. Musk’s appearance in the Oval Office advancing or promoting the work that he's doing is work related, so he is performing work and wearing or displaying partisan political paraphernalia,” said Laura Nagel, an employment lawyer who represents federal employees. “So, to me, that would be a violation of the Hatch Act.” 

The Office of Special Counsel, which enforces the Hatch Act, declined to comment on whether Musk wearing the MAGA hat at the White House violated the law. 

“OSC does not typically comment on specific scenarios for which we could receive a Hatch Act complaint,” agency spokesperson Zachary Kurz said in a statement to Government Executive. “Further, OSC is generally unable to confirm or deny receipt of specific Hatch Act complaints, particularly when they have not already been made public (as might be the case when the complaint is from a member of Congress or an advocacy group).”

While special government employees do fall under the Hatch Act, there are differences in its application compared with most federal workers. OSC guidance says that SGEs are only subject to the law when they are on duty (i.e. working in their official capacity). For example, SGEs can solicit political donations when they are off-duty, which federal employees are generally never permitted to do. 

Some activities that SGEs, and federal employees broadly, are prohibited from doing include:  

• using their official authority or influence to interfere with or affect an election’s result. 
• knowingly soliciting or discouraging the political activity of any person with matters before the employee’s office. 
• engaging in political activity while on duty, in any federal room or building, wearing a government uniform or insignia or using a government-owned or -leased vehicle.

Musk frequently discusses his work for the Department of Government Efficiency and criticizes his political opponents on X (formerly Twitter), the social media platform that he owns.

A Washington, D.C.-area attorney who preferred to be unnamed because of ongoing work and litigation related to the Hatch Act, predicted that Musk’s online presence could become a more prevalent issue if he comments on 2026 midterm races. 

“You can't have an employee of the National Labor Relations Board tweeting all day while on the clock. That would be a violation of the Hatch Act if they were political tweets,” the attorney said. “Musk can't be doing the same thing as a special government employee [when] he's working.”

There are roadblocks, however, to any discipline against Musk over the Hatch Act.