Trump Administration Effort to Pin DOGE On Anyone But Elon Musk Hits New Snag
(AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)
The effort on the part of President Donald Trump’s White House to — on paper, at least — distance Elon Musk from the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has hit a new snag.
A new report from Politico, citing a just unsealed court filing, raises questions about the role of Amy Gleason — who has been identified by the White House as the official head of DOGE. The new report reveals Gleason has also been working as a “consultant/expert” for Health and Human Services (HHS) for the past month. The idea that she was able to hold down another gig while simultaneously leading a massive payroll-slashing effort which has wreaked havoc across the federal government is all but certain to face pushback in court.
The official position of the White House is that Elon Musk is technically not in charge of DOGE, but rather a senior advisor to the President. But on numerous occasions, Trump himself has identified Musk as the person calling the shots at that agency.
“I signed an order creating the Department of Government Efficiency and put a man named Elon Musk in charge,” Trump said on Feb. 20. “Thank you, Elon, for doing it. And he’s doing a great job.”
The precise nature of Musk’s role is a crucial issue in the dozens of lawsuits involving DOGE. The White House effort to distance Musk from DOGE seems to be an attempt to shield him from legal scrutiny. The White House did not publicly name an administrator of DOGE until Feb. 25, when it identified Gleason as the agency’s leader. But the new revelation that Gleason has been simultaneously working for HHS makes it more difficult for the White House to sell that she has also been spearheading a massive government initiative.
Still, in a March 14 affidavit, Gleason positioned herself as the leader of the U.S. DOGE service (USDS) — and claimed Musk has no direct role.
“Elon Musk does not work at USDS,” Gleason said. “I do not report to him, and he does not report to me. To my knowledge, he is a Senior Advisor to the White House.”
