Elon Musk has ‘no decision making authority’ when it comes to DOGE, according to the White House.
The billionaire has taken center stage of the Trump administration in recent weeks after taking on the role of head of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
While not technically a government department, DOGE has sparked controversy as an outside advisor after Musk was granted full access to the Treasury payment system.
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Now, in a new court filing, the White House has claimed that Musk is actually not the person in charge of DOGE and instead, he is just a senior adviser to President Trump.
It was also said that the Tesla boss has no decision making authority and is only able to advise the president.
According to Reuters, In the court filing, it read: “In his role as senior advisor to the president, Mr Musk has no greater authority than other senior White House advisors. Like other senior White House advisors, Mr Musk has no actual or formal authority to make government decisions.”
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Joshua Fischer, who is the director of the Office of Administration at the White House, claimed that Musk isn’t even an employee of DOGE and instead has the title of ‘non-career special government employee’.
When Musk took on the role, it was revealed that DOGE would be tackling the federal budget, which the SpaceX CEO promised to slash by trillions of dollars.
Since his appointment, various government staff have been put on leave and Musk now has access to the Treasury’s federal payment system.
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Fears have grown over Musk’s involvement in government after concerns were raised that he could have access to the confidential data of millions of Americans, including social security and Medicare benefits payments.
In a hearing that is challenging the extent of Musk’s authority, Judge Tanya Chutkan said: “DOGE appears to be moving in no sort of predictable and orderly fashion.
“This is essentially a private citizen directing an organisation that’s not a federal agency to have access to the entire workings of the federal government, fire, hire, slash, contract, terminate programs, all without apparently any congressional oversight.”
After a court hearing on Friday (February 14), Christopher Healy, who is a senior adviser to the Treasury Department’s general counsel was asked who is in charge of running DOGE.
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In response, he said: “I don't know the answer to that.”
So, if Musk isn’t at the head of DOGE, who is?