President Donald Trump’s top adviser on crypto, David Sacks, is working under a “special government employee” status that’s meant to be for officials serviing an important but temporary duty with the federal government, and Senator Elizabeth Warren penned a letter with other Democrats in Congress asking him whether he’s overstepped that window.
Such an employee isn’t allowed to serve more than 130 days in a year, according to the law, and the Wednesday letter to Sacks asks him to put a number on the days the prominent venture capitalist has worked for Trump in the role as crypto and artificial intelligence czar. Under the rules, any day in which he’s done work counts against that 130, though in some agencies, the limit has commonly been governed by a “good faith” estimate of how long the official expects to serve.
“If you have worked every business day, your 130th day was July 25, 2025,” according to the letter signed by Warren and several other members of the Senate and House of Representatives, including Bernie Sanders. The lawmakers called their review of this timeline since the January 20 start of the administration an “investigation.”
“If you have indeed passed the 130th day mark, you are undermining the careful balance Congress struck in creating the SGE designation. It is only because of your designation as an SGE that you have been able to continue working for and being paid by Craft Ventures during your time in government,” read the letter.
Trump has used the temporary employment status in a high-profile fashion, also employing Tesla CEO Elon Musk in that capacity. The personnel tool is designed to be used to bring expertise into government without having to clear some of the bureaucratic hoops of typical hiring. Earlier this year, other Democrats in Congress pushed a bill that sought to inhibit such employees from using the role to seek financial gain, and Warren also pursued legislation to limit SGEs.
There have been more than 170 business days since Trump took office. Since then, Sacks has been running the president’s aggressive pro-crypto agenda, which has so far celebrated one major new law to regulate U.S. stablecoin issuers — leading to a White House signing ceremony that Sacks attended.
He’s also acted as the boss of the administration’s day-to-day crypto adviser, which had originally been Bo Hines until he left to work for Tether as its top U.S. executive. Patrick Witt replaced Hines as executive director of the President’s Council of Advisers on Digital Assets, and he told CoinDesk he’s still working closely with Sacks.
Source: https://www.coindesk.com/policy/2025/09/17/democrats-in-congress-call-foul-on-status-of-trump-s-crypto-czar-david-sacks
