The acting administrator of President Donald Trump's so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has been identified as Amy Gleason, a White House official confirmed on Tuesday. This clarification comes amidst ongoing speculation about the leadership of the government-restructuring entity.
The technical leader of DOGE was revealed shortly after White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt assured reporters that Elon Musk was overseeing the government-slashing unit. Despite repeated inquiries, Leavitt declined to name the DOGE administrator during a White House press briefing, leaving the matter unresolved until Gleason's identification by an anonymous official.
Leavitt's refusals have sparked confusion regarding who is truly managing the executive-branch unit, even as Musk's involvement continues to be a focal point of several lawsuits. These legal challenges address DOGE's controversial actions, including abrupt firings, cancellation of government contracts, and attempts to close entire federal agencies.
In one such lawsuit, a Trump administration aide declared last week that Elon Musk serves as a senior advisor to Trump without possessing any formal authority to make government decisions. The aide, identified as Office of Administration Director Joshua Fisher, stated under penalty of perjury that Musk is not employed by the DOGE entities established by Trump via executive order on his first day in office.
During a separate federal lawsuit hearing on Monday, a Trump administration lawyer reportedly could not answer a judge's questions concerning Musk's relationship to DOGE, further complicating the narrative.
Trump's executive order rebranded an existing team within the Executive Office of the President as the United States DOGE Service. It established an administrator reporting directly to the White House chief of staff and tasked with leading an internal group known as the U.S. DOGE Service Temporary Organization.
The executive order also mandated that federal agency heads coordinate with the DOGE administrator, including forming internal DOGE Teams within their agencies.
According to Semafor, the DOGE administrator position has been vacant since Mina Hsiang, the previous administrator of the unit—formerly known as the U.S. Digital Service—stepped down as Trump assumed office. It remains unclear when Amy Gleason officially filled the administrator role.
