DOGE lead Steve Davis did not go quietly

Politico

14-07-2025

That's because Davis was acting as if he'd never left.
Not only did he remain in touch with staffers, asking for DOGE updates and making requests, he also led a DOGE meeting on the sixth floor of the General Services Administration a week after the White House had said he departed, according to two people familiar with the events granted anonymity to speak about them. At the meeting, he announced a DOGE 2.0 in which DOGE would be more collaborative with Cabinet secretaries — a proposal that never came to be, one of two people said.
'He was at the GSA running the meeting like it was business as usual,' the person said.
Several DOGE employees including Yinon Weiss, Sam Corcos, Ryan Shea, and Adam Blake privately questioned Davis' role running DOGE as a non-government employee, according to the two people.
'A lot of people got uncomfortable,' one of the people said of the dynamic after the White House sent the message about not communicating with Davis. 'So many people received that message from the White House and I think that bothered them, that Steve was continuing to tell everybody that everything is normal and to act like he is still involved in running the show.'
Concerned about the potential legal ramifications of taking direction from someone who the White House had instructed them not to, some sought guidance from the DOGE general counsel Austin Raynor, who clarified that Davis is no longer a government employee.
Davis responded by dispatching a trio of allies — GSA Acting Administrator Stephen Ehikian, Josh Gruenbaum, and Anthony Armstrong — to assess people's loyalty, the two people said. He also installed the troika as the new leaders of DOGE.
'They claimed authority from [Vice President] JD Vance and [chief of staff] Susie Wiles but actually did not and do not have it — they were bluffing,' the second person said, adding that the White House is aware of these claims and has been working to ensure everyone understands that these three only have authority at the GSA, not the broad remit that characterized DOGE's early days.