The Trump administration has become increasingly cagey about who’s running the Department of Government Efficiency Elon Musk was tapped to lead, downplaying Musk’s authority while also declining to say—or at points admitting it doesn’t know—what civil servant is overseeing DOGE’s major decisions.
Elon Musk and President Donald Trump appear during an executive order signing in the Oval Office at ... [+]
President Donald Trump chose Musk to lead the Department of Government Efficiency that has spearheaded sweeping cuts and changes across the federal government, with the billionaire serving as a special government employee.
A coalition of state attorneys general have challenged Musk’s authority in court, filing a lawsuit calling the billionaire an “agent of chaos” in the federal government who has been given “virtually unchecked authority … without proper legal authorization from Congress and without meaningful supervision of his activities.”
The Trump administration responded by claiming Musk does not have the level of authority the states claim—despite DOGE taking broad actions to cut federal agencies, which both Trump and Musk have attributed to the Tesla CEO, with Trump saying in a joint press conference with Musk last week that Musk is a “successful guy and that’s why we want him doing this.”
Justice Department lawyers said in court filings last week Musk “has no greater authority than other senior White House advisors” and can’t “make government decisions himself,” alleging Musk “can only advise the President and communicate the President’s directives.”
Government lawyers have also said Musk is not an “employee of the U.S. DOGE Service” or the “U.S. DOGE Service Administrator,” but the Trump administration has not specified who that administrator actually is.
A lawyer for the DOJ was unable to answer Judge Colleen Kotar-Kotelly’s questioning about who DOGE’s administrator is in a court hearing Monday for a different case, with DOJ attorney Bradley Humphreys responding, “I don’t know the answer to that” when asked if there is a DOGE administrator at the present time, according to a transcript shared by Lawfare.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt suggested Tuesday there is a DOGE administrator but their identity is being kept under wraps, saying during a press briefing, “I am not going to reveal the name of that individual from this podium” while claiming the government “has been incredibly transparent about the way that DOGE is working.”
News reports Tuesday following Leavitt’s comments suggest the White House has identified Amy Gleason as the DOGE administrator, though Gleason has not confirmed that directly and there are still no details about when she started in that role. Social media accounts shared online suggest Gleason was an adviser at the U.S. Digital Service, which became DOGE, though there has not been any previous reporting linking her to Musk and his associates’ work. The New York Times had suggested possible administrators could include Musk’s longtime lieutenant Steve Davis or Brad Smith, a healthcare entrepreneur and official in Trump’s first term who was reportedly running DOGE during the transition.
U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan ruled not to block DOGE’s activities while the states’ lawsuit challenging Musk’s authority moves forward, at least for now. She could still issue a block in the future, however, as Chutkan expressed concerns during a hearing about DOGE’s activities and said in her ruling that the plaintiffs “legitimately call into question what appears to be the unchecked authority of an unelected individual.”
Chutkan suggested during a hearing last week she wasn’t swayed by the Trump administration’s claims that Musk doesn’t have any decision-making authority over the federal government, saying that argument “stretch[es] too far.”
Leavitt said Tuesday that “Elon Musk is overseeing DOGE,” even as the administration has previously attempted in court filings to distance Musk from the agency. The White House has claimed Musk is a Trump adviser who works for the White House, rather than for DOGE specifically. Trump has consistently referred to Musk’s work as part of DOGE, however, saying in an interview before the Super Bowl he told Musk to “check” various federal agencies for purported waste, which is what DOGE has been doing. Musk has also taken credit for DOGE’s work, saying in his press conference with Trump that he works with federal agencies through DOGE and if Trump wants DOGE to do something, “We’ll do it.” A number of employees have been identified as working for DOGE, but none appear to have the level of power Musk does over the agency, and many known DOGE associates previously worked at Musk’s private companies.
In addition to Davis, Smith and reportedly Gleason, other staffers who have been identified as working for DOGE include Katie Miller, wife of Trump advisor Stephen Miller, and a number of engineers and low-level staffers who have assumed broad control across the federal government through DOGE. Many of those staffers have drawn controversy due to their young age—many are under the age of 25—and lack of relevant government experience, with many being students, recent graduates or college dropouts who are engineers with a tech background. Those staffers include Marko Elez, a 25-year-old whom Musk said he would rehire after Elez resigned amid reports about his racist tweets, and Edward Coristine, a 19-year-old who’s gone by the nickname “Big Balls” online and whom Bloomberg reports was previously fired from a cybersecurity firm for leaking company secrets.
Musk—the richest person in the world—is not getting paid for his DOGE work.
A special government employee, or SGE, is a federal employee who works for the federal government on a temporary basis, which is defined in federal law as being no more than 130 days per year. They can be either paid or unpaid, as Musk is. SGEs are typically hired as specialists or consultants, NPR notes, or members of government advisory boards. They still have to follow ethics rules designed to prevent conflicts of interest, but Musk has not had to divest from any of his private companies.
Musk joined the Trump administration after becoming one of the president’s most outspoken supporters—and biggest donors—during the election. The billionaire first endorsed Trump over the summer following the assassination attempt on the president, and repeatedly suggested during the election he could help Trump root out “government waste.” Trump then announced the creation of DOGE shortly after his election. DOGE has drawn controversy since Trump’s inauguration for its widespread activities across the federal government, as officials have gained access to sensitive information at numerous federal agencies and been linked to mass firings across the federal workforce. The Democratic states’ lawsuit challenging Musk’s authority is one of numerous lawsuits that have been filed over DOGE’s work in recent weeks, including multiple cases challenging Trump’s authority to create the group and litigation seeking to block the group’s access to private information. The cases have so far resulted in a mix of temporary rulings as they move forward, with judges blocking DOGE’s access to Treasury Department data but keeping officials’ access intact at other agencies, such as the Department of Labor.