White House reveals who DOGE acting administrator is
Amy Gleason is the acting administrator of the US DOGE Service, the agency that houses the temporary Department of Government Efficiency, a White House official told CNN on Tuesday.
The announcement, after weeks of questions about Elon Musk's official role and authority over DOGE, reveals the technical leader of the Musk-driven initiative tasked with reconfiguring the federal government.
Gleason has a background in health care and previously worked at the US Digital Service, an office created by President Barack Obama and most recently named after DOGE. Her position with DOGE was first reported by the Washington Examiner.
She also worked in President Donald Trump's first term, including being placed on the White House Coronavirus Task Force's data team because of her technology background. That team was led by Dr. Deborah Birx.
Despite pledging full transparency, the White House has refused or been unable to identify the administrator of DOGE, including during Tuesday's press briefing. While Musk has served as the initiative's public face and continues to issue social-media directives to government workers, the White House has maintained that his status is one of a special government employee, and not a full-time worker.
'So, the president tasked Elon Musk to oversee the DOGE effort,' press secretary Karoline Leavitt said earlier Tuesday when asked directly who was administering the initiative. 'There are career officials and there are political appointees who are helping run DOGE on a day-to-day basis.'
Justice Department attorneys were grilled in a court appearance Monday about who the administrator was, but none were able to say then, either.
'Who's involved? Who's in charge? Who's giving them direction?' Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly asked government attorneys at the hearing, which examined DOGE's access to sensitive data systems at the Treasury Department.
Judges, including Kollar-Kotelly, have raised the lack of clarity around DOGE's structure as impeding their ability to decide the emergency disputes before them.
She and others have raised possible constitutional issues, depending on the chain of command at DOGE and who is behind the sweeping decisions that have the upended federal government's operations in recent weeks.
The White House official did not say how long Gleason has been the acting adminstrator.
CNN's Michael Williams contributed to this report.
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