White House official: Elon Musk has no 'formal authority' in the Trump administration

Elon Musk, the incredibly wealthy man who is making drastic cuts to the federal government, is actually not in charge of the Trump-created Department of Government Efficiency, according to a Trump administration personnel official. In court papers released Monday, Joshua Fisher, the director of the White House’s Office of Administration, challenged Trump’s description of Musk’s role.

"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," Trump said in December. Ramaswamy since left, apparently leaving Musk in charge.

Instead, Musk is a senior advisor.

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“I have personal knowledge of Mr. Elon Musk’s employment status with the federal government,” Fisher said in his declaration. The statement appears to have first been reported by Scripps News.

"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," Fisher said.

“Mr. Musk is an employee in the White House Office,” he added. “He is not an employee of the U.S. DOGE Service or U.S. DOGE Service Temporary Organization. Mr. Musk is not the U.S. DOGE Service Administrator.”

“This comes at the request of Judge Tanya Chutkan, in a case brought by a number of Democratic state attorneys general against Musk and the so-called Department of Government Efficiency,” wrote Scripps reporter Jacob Gardenswartz. “The plaintiffs have requested a temporary restraining order that would block Musk and DOGE from accessing sensitive government data and directing firings.”

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"DOGE appears to be moving in no sort of predictable and orderly fashion," Chutkan said. "This is essentially a private citizen directing an organization that's not a federal agency to have access to the entire workings of the federal government, fire, hire, slash, contract, terminate programs, all without apparently any congressional oversight."

Last week, U.S. District Judge John Bates, ruling that DOGE should be an agency, pointed out that by avoiding the title, they can circumvent some government processes.

"This appears to come from a desire to escape the obligations that accompany agencyhood — such as being subject to the Freedom of Information Act, the Privacy Act and the Administrative Procedures Act -- while reaping only its benefits," U.S. District Judge John Bates wrote.

It’s not clear who actually is in charge of DOGE.

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