The White House is claiming Elon Musk does not run, or even work for, the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) — a claim that seems to contradict numerous previous statements from President Donald Trump.
In a legal filing late Monday, Joshua Fisher — the director of the White House’s Office of Administration — stated in an affidavit that Musk is “not an employee of the U.S. DOGE Service or the U.S. DOGE Service temporary organization.”
So what exactly is Musk’s job?
“Mr. Musk is an employee of the White House office,” Fisher wrote. “He holds that position as a non-career Special Government Employee (“SGE”). In that job, Mr. Musk is a Senior Advisor to the President.”
Fisher added, “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.”
That characterization runs counter to numerous public statements from Trump. In a Nov. 12 statement, Trump announced Musk as the head of DOGE — in tandem with Vivek Ramaswamy (who has since moved on).
“I am pleased to announce that the Great Elon Musk, working in conjunction with American Patriot Vivek Ramaswamy, will lead the Department of Government Efficiency (“DOGE”),” Trump said. “Together, these two wonderful Americans will pave the way for my Administration to dismantle Government Bureaucracy, slash excess regulations, cut wasteful expenditures, and restructure Federal Agencies – Essential to the ‘Save America’ Movement.”
In the Oval Office on Feb. 11, Trump — with Musk standing by his side — said the following:
“We’re going to be signing a very important deal today. It’s DOGE. And I’m going to ask Elon to tell you a little bit about it.”
Later, Trump asked Musk a direct question about government waste identified by his “team.”
“Could you mention some of the things your team has found?” Trump said — before Musk went on to detail various examples of waste.
In an interview on Fox ahead of the Super Bowl on Feb. 9, Trump also talked about having Musk examine various government agencies — essentially performing the function of DOGE.
“I’m going to tell [Elon Musk] very soon, like maybe in 24 hours, to go check the Department of Education,” he said. “He’s going to find the same thing … Then I’m going to go, ‘go to the military.’ Let’s check the military.”
Left unstated in the affidavit is who is actually running DOGE — if it is not Musk.
