Who's In Charge of DOGE?

In a legal filing on Monday, the White House said Elon Musk is a “Senior Advisor to the President” and he is not an employee of the separate U.S. DOGE Service (USDS).

The Lawsuit: Judge Tanya Chutkan denied an effort by 14 Democratic state attorneys general to temporarily halt DOGE from accessing data or terminating workers. The lawsuit alleged that Musk's role was “illegal and violates the separation of powers assigned by the U.S. Constitution,” but the White House said, “Mr. Musk has no actual or formal authority to make government decisions himself,” emphasizing that all cuts have been made by personnel within federal agencies. 

Who's in Charge: Following the filing, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt was asked who the administrator legally in charge of DOGE is, and she did not provide a name. Neither did White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller when he was pressed on CNN. One DOGE employee said, “After Ted [Carstensen] resigned [on Feb. 6], we received no correspondence as far as who the head of this organization was.” 

How The Media Covered It: The story was covered more by outlets on the left than the right. The New York Post (Lean Right bias) included, “[Anita] Dunn, who served as a White House adviser to Biden, was never confirmed by the Senate, either — but her level of power was obscured to a far greater degree, critics have charged.” Outlets on the left did not compare Musk to any employees under Biden and instead emphasized Musk's leadership. “The technical designation does not mean Musk is not, for all practical purposes, the key decision-maker for DOGE, which has been staffed full of his allies,” Politico (Lean Left) said. Fortune's (Center) headline, “Not even DOGE employees know who’s in charge” shows slant because it frames DOGE as ineffective and chaotic.