White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt Says She Has No Idea If Elon Musk Has A Security Clearance

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt says she has no idea if Elon Musk has a security clearance as she faced reporter questions involving his recent actions involving the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).

Personnel from USAID were put on leave after they tried to block Musk's DOGE from accessing classified material at the agency.

"I can confirm he's a special government employee. I can also confirm that he has abided by all applicable government laws," Leavitt said outside the White House on Monday. "As for his security clearance, I'm not sure."

She told reporters she "would check" on it.

Leavitt also said she didn't know if Musk had passed a background check.

She also said she had no information on whether other Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) workers who were at USAID on his behalf had security clearances.

Leavitt defended Musk's role in trying to look into USAID, saying he has "a little bit of common sense."

Trump-appointed Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has given DOGE access to Treasury data that controls and distributes trillions of dollars, including Social Security and Medicare payments.

DOGE says it is cutting what it deems reckless spending. Musk stated in an X post that he is "cautiously optimistic" that the department would reduce spending by $4 billion a day.

Democrats have pushed back at DOGE's unmitigated access to the Treasury's system, something that has historically only been granted to career civil servants. Musk and DOGE can now control payments to contractors, tax refunds, grants and government-provided benefits.