DOGE administrator’s identity finally revealed. And it’s not Elon Musk.
WASHINGTON ‒ The White House on Tuesday revealed the name of the top official working in Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency after the identity of the DOGE administrator had been kept secret since the group's formation.
Amy Gleason, a former official at the U.S. Digital Service, is the acting DOGE administrator, a White House official said.
It was not immediately clear when Gleason was formally named to the position. The White House identified Gleason as the acting DOGE administrator shortly after White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt repeatedly declined Tuesday afternoon to reveal who's in charge of DOGE during a briefing with reporters.
Even though President Donald Trump in November named Musk the head of DOGE, the White House argued in a court filing last week that Musk isn't in charge of DOGE ‒ nor does he even work for DOGE ‒ and instead serves as a senior adviser to the president. "Mr. Musk is not the U.S. DOGE Service Administrator," the White House said in the filing, though it stopped short of identifying the administrator.
Gleason, who has a background in health care technology, is not a widely known figure in the Trump administration. According to her LinkedIn page, she worked at the U.S. Digital Service from 2018 to 2021 during Trump's first presidency. To formally create DOGE, Trump used a Day 1 executive order to rebrand and convert the Digital Service ‒ a technology unit of the executive branch ‒ to DOGE.
Beginning in 2021, Gleason worked as chief product officer for Russell Street Ventures, a venture capital firm based in Nashville. The firm was founded by Brad Smith, a former top health official in Trump's first administration who also works for DOGE. In January, Gleason began as a "senior advisor" to the Digital Service, according to her profile.
Efforts by Paste BN to reach Gleason were unsuccessful. Gleason told CBS News that she was in Mexico when reached by phone.
Although Musk is not technically an employee of DOGE, the White House has said Musk is overseeing DOGE in his capacity as senior adviser.
The evolving explanation of Musk's role as a White House adviser, not a DOGE employee, came in response to a lawsuit filed by multiple Democratic state attorneys general challenging Musk's authority in the Trump administration. A federal judge last week refused to block Musk's access to sensitive records at several federal departments, arguing the states hadn't shown they would suffer “imminent, irreparable harm” unless she blocked DOGE.
Meanwhile, Trump has continued to refer to Musk as the head of DOGE.
"I signed an order creating the Department of Government Efficiency and put a man named Elon Musk in charge," Trump said in a speech last week in Miami.
Reach Joey Garrison on X @joeygarrison.