By Nermeen Nabil Khear 
Democrat Senator Elizabeth Warren and House of Representatives member Melanie Stansbury have introduced a new bill targeting Special Government Employees (SGEs). The lawmakers say the bill wants to impose higher ethical standards on SGEs and restrict their influence.
SGEs are federal government employees serving temporarily and for a limited period. They usually get to keep their external jobs while still working with the government and are not obligated to disclose their financial interests publicly.
The new bill, known officially as the SGE Ethics Enforcement & Reform (SEER) Act, wants to impose higher ethics and transparency standards on this group. According to a release from Warren’s office, this has become necessary due to the influence of SGEs under President Donald Trump’s administration.
Senator Warren leads effort to rein in SGEs
The official statement from Senator Warren specifically mentioned Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, noting that this bill would “rein him in.” Musk is classified as an SGE due to being a leader of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), a position that many believe creates a conflict of interest.
Warren said:
“Unelected billionaire Elon Musk should not be acting as co-president of the United States and making $8 million a day from government contracts while he’s at it. My new bill would crack down on conflicts of interest and create stronger ethics rules for Elon Musk and all Special Government Employees.”
However, Musk is not the only SGE that could be impacted by the Bill, even though he might be the most popular. White House Crypto and AI Czar David Sacks is also an SGE while holding his position as a partner in Craft Ventures, the venture capital firm he co-founded in 2017. However, he divested over $200 million in crypto-related investments upon his appointment to avoid a conflict of interest.
Jon Golliger, a democracy advocate at Public Citizen, claimed that the Trump administration had used the SGE designation to appoint people with conflicts of interest to high-level government positions.
Bill to bar SGEs from contacting agencies relevant to their industry
Meanwhile, a key part of the proposed legislation bars SGEs from officially communicating with any agencies that regulate or interface with their companies. This means that Musk, the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, would not be able to communicate through DOGE with several agencies, including the Space Force, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFBP), and others.
Beyond that, it plans to block SGEs from participating in governmental projects in which they have a financial interest and require them to file public disclosure forms. The bill also changes the timeline for applying most ethics rules for SGEs to their 61st day, while rules on outside compensation will apply after their 130th day.
There is overwhelming support for the bill among Democrat legislators. Several Democrats such as Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, ten Senators, and four House of Representatives members co-sponsored the bill while non-profits and advocacy groups including Public Citizen, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), State Democracy Defenders, American Federation Of Government Employees (AFGE), and the National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU) are also backing it.
However, the likelihood of the bill passing remains very slim, especially given that Republicans control both chambers of Congress. The bill will require bipartisan support to advance from Congress and an assent from President Trump to become a law.
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This articles is written by : Nermeen Nabil Khear Abdelmalak
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