White House says Elon Musk is not in charge of DOGE — legally, anyway
NPR Online News2 days ago
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 Facts
White House official Joshua Fisher said this week that Elon Musk is not the head of DOGE. The comments came after chief of the White House Office of Administration reportedly said in court papers that Musk was an advisor to Pres. Donald Trump.
Established by Trump on his first day in office, the US DOGE Service reports to the White House Chief of Staff. Though it is not a cabinet-level department, the Tesla and SpaceX founder Musk is a special government employee.
Democratic attorneys general have brought a legal case against DOGE's actions, which so far relate to accessing data, looking into budgets, and looking into curbing waste, fraud, and abuse. Arguments are being heard by US District Judge Tanya S Chutkan.
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.
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The Controversies
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