PANews reported on December 21 that according to Fortune, the scope of David Sacks, who was originally scheduled to serve as the "AI and Cryptocurrency Czar" of the Trump administration, has changed. Two people familiar with the inner workings of the transition team said that although the "Czar" position was originally considered a clear leadership role, it is now more like a general advisory position. It can be said that David Sacks will be supervised by Michael Kratsios, an executive of Scale AI who served as chief technology officer during Trump's first administration. A person familiar with the matter said that Michael Kratsios is deeply involved in the current transition work, and it is expected that he will continue to stay after Trump takes office and jointly lead all technology policy work with Gale Slater, who will focus on telecommunications and technology antitrust issues.
A person familiar with the matter explained that David Sacks' position was reduced to a more general advisory position in part because he did not divest from investment firm Craft Ventures and did not want to become a full-time government employee, which would require a formal confirmation process. In past administrations, many so-called political and policy "czars" have held official positions in the government, in specific departments, and often with Senate confirmation. If David Sacks were to receive formal employment status, he would most likely be a "special government employee," which Congress describes as a "temporary or intermittent consultant" who is not subject to the same conflict of interest standards as regular government employees. In fact, there are few restrictions on such a person continuing to do outside work or receive compensation, whether or not they are paid for government work.
