Musk is not an employee of DOGE and "has no actual or formal authority," White House says
CBSN
Billionaire Elon Musk's role in the Trump administration is to find ways to cut costs through the newly created Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE. But a new court filing from the White House states that the Tesla CEO isn't an employee of DOGE, adding that Musk "has no actual or formal authority to make government decisions himself."
The filing raises questions about Musk's role in the Trump administration and at DOGE, a cost-cutting task force created by Mr. Trump on Jan. 20 that is working at a number of agencies, including the Treasury Department and the IRS, in an effort to find fraud and waste. The White House didn't immediately respond to a request for comment about Musk's role at DOGE.
Last week, Musk — the world's richest person, with a net worth of $398 billion — stood behind Mr. Trump at the Oval Office, describing DOGE's work as taking "very simple and basic" steps to cut federal spending. At the same time, DOGE's efforts have sparked multiple lawsuits and raised alarms from Democratic lawmakers and consumer advocates over its reported access to personal data of millions of Americans and businesses.
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