Lawyers challenging the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) pounced on a remark by President Donald Trump during his address to Congress on Tuesday, submitting it as “new evidence” about Elon Musk’s role at the entity.
Kelly B. McClanahan, a lawyer representing plaintiffs suing the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) over DOGE, swiftly incorporated Trump’s statement that the task force is “headed by Elon Musk” into a court filing late Tuesday night. The move comes after the White House said he legally only serves as an “senior advisor” to the president in a previous court filing, and that Musk did not lead the U.S. DOGE Service (USDS), the formal agency in charge of the cost-cutting effort.
“I have created the brand new Department of Government Efficiency, DOGE. Perhaps you’ve heard of it,” Trump said at his address to a joint session of Congress. “Which is headed by Elon Musk, who is in the gallery tonight.”
The White House previously confirmed that Amy Gleason is the acting administrator to USDS — previously the U.S. Digital Service, an Obama-era agency created after the botched rollout of HealthCare.gov to modernize the federal government’s web infrastructure — The Washington Examiner first reported.
The new filing comes after repeated questions from plaintiffs and Democrats who seek to clarify Musk’s official role in the initiative, framing his legal status in the administration as vague and an attempt meant to shield Musk from congressional oversight.
McClanahan said Trump’s comment “conclusively demonstrates that expedited discovery is urgently needed to ascertain the nature of the Department of Government Efficiency and its relationship to the United States DOGE Service, of which Amy Gleason is the Acting Administrator.”
The president previously suggested Musk’s role was advisory, rather than formal, in a Feb. 18 statement to reporters.
“Elon is, to me, a patriot. So you could call him an employee, you could call him a consultant. You could call him whatever you want, but he’s a patriot.”
The White House confirmed Musk’s advisory status in a separate court filing on Feb. 17.
“Mr. Musk is an employee of the White House Office. He holds that position as a non-career Special Government Employee (“SGE”),” the filing reads. “In his role as a 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 himself. Mr. Musk can only advise the President and communicate the President’s directives.”
The White House did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.
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