Ethics laws make it a federal criminal offense to take actions that benefit family businesses — even for so-called special government employees, unless a waiver is issued.

Musk, who has promised "mass head-count reductions" across the federal bureaucracy, has drawn wide scrutiny in recent days as his team has been given access to or has taken contro

Now that Elon Musk has been classified as a "special government employee," he will get greater access to U.S. government agencies.