White House Says Amy Gleason Has Actually Led Musk’s DOGE For ‘Quite Some Time’ — Here’s What We Know

Topline

A longtime healthcare technology executive who previously worked for the Trump administration is now the acting administrator of the Department of Government Efficiency, multiple outlets reported Tuesday, following weeks of questions over whether Elon Musk was officially in charge, though little remains known about Gleason or her role.

Key Facts

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What Is The Us Digital Service?

The U.S. Digital Service, or USDS, was an agency established in 2014 by then-President Barack Obama “to deliver better government services to the American people through technology and design.” It brought together a team of civil servants, engineers, designers, product managers and digital policy experts who worked to modernize government services and make them more accessible, according to its website. On Jan. 20, when Trump took office, he signed an executive order renaming the U.S. Digital Service as the United States DOGE Service and stating that DOGE had a not-dissimilar goal: “to modernize federal technology and software to maximize efficiency and productivity.”

News Peg

Questions of who is leading DOGE have increased in recent days after a Department of Justice lawyer was unable to answer when a judge asked Monday if there was an administrator, saying: “I don’t know the answer to that.” The White House had said for weeks Elon Musk was overseeing DOGE as a special government employee but is not the administrator, which was echoed again Tuesday by Leavitt. Leavitt told a reporter in Tuesday’s White House briefing she would not “reveal” the name of the employee serving as DOGE’s administrator publicly, but would follow up and provide the name—though the reporter said Monday afternoon Leavitt had not followed up.

Big Number

$65 billion. That’s how much money DOGE claims it has saved the U.S. government since it began operating last month, according to its government website.

Key Background

When Trump announced the creation of DOGE before he took office, he said it would be led by Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, though Ramaswamy departed the agency before it began. The Trump administration has recently sought to distance Musk from DOGE, though Trump himself has referred to Musk’s work as part of the agency and the two appeared together in a press conference in which Musk took credit for much of DOGE’s work. DOGE has drawn regular controversy, criticism and legal challenges since it began working to reduce government spending and the federal workforce, in part because its employees—many of whom are unknown to the public—are reportedly accessing sensitive government data and information.

Further Reading

Is Elon Musk Running DOGE? Press Secretary Won’t ‘Reveal’ Agency Administrator After DOJ Tells Court They Don’t Know Who’s Making Decisions (Forbes)

White House And Treasury Department Agree To Block DOGE From Personal Taxpayer Data, Report Says—Here’s What To Know (Forbes)