White House says Elon Musk is not in charge of DOGE — legally, anyway
NPR Online NewsFEB 17
Musk Not Head of DOGE, Only Advising Trump Says White House
Above: People participate in a "TeslaTakedown" protest against Elon Musk outside of a Tesla showroom in Seattle, Washington, on Feb. 15, 2025. Image copyright: Jason Redmon/Contributor/AFP via Getty Images
The Spin
Democratic narrative
In a masterful display of Silicon Valley's penchant for linguistic sleight-of-hand, DOGE emerges as the latest tech-world illusion. Just as Uber cloaked a taxi service in "sharing" and Airbnb masked unregulated hotels as "hosting," Trump and Musk's "Department" of Government Efficiency is neither a department nor about efficiency — it's an administrative workaround masquerading as official authority, with Musk in a deliberately ambiguous role.
Republican narrative
Elon Musk is the driving force behind Trump’s crusade to dismantle government bureaucracy. As the architect of DOGE, he is slashing inefficiencies, overruling resistance, and pushing Trump’s agenda with unrelenting force. Musk remains undeterred, targeting waste and wielding power without bureaucratic red tape. Whether officially appointed or not, he is exactly the disruptor Washington needed to force government reform into reality.