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Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency has continued to disrupt Washington with massive cuts to federal agencies and mass layoffs of government workers. Yet one question has remained through the organization’s first month: Who exactly is running things?
While Musk has long been the public and online face of DOGE, the White House has maintained that the Tesla CEO is not actually in charge. Last week, Joshua Fisher, the director of the White House’s Office of Administration, said in federal court papers that Elon Musk has “no actual or formal authority to make government decisions himself,” per the Associated Press.
The administration maintained this posture on Tuesday as White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt fielded questions as to the identity of the DOGE administrator, a role established by the executive order that created the temporary initiative. Leavitt said that Musk is a “special government employee” and that he is overseeing DOGE but declined to say who is currently holding the administrator role.
Then, in a sudden twist, the White House finally provided a name. Semafor reports that Amy Gleason is the acting DOGE administrator, citing an administration official. According to her LinkedIn account, Gleason most recently worked as a senior adviser at the United States Digital Service, the unit that was subsumed by DOGE when it was created. She has experience in health care, having worked as chief product officer for both the investment firm Russell Street Ventures and Main Street Health, which focuses on care in rural areas.
The reveal immediately prompted questions about the extent of Gleason’s involvement. CBS News reports that when contacted Tuesday, Gleason told the outlet she was in Mexico and declined further comment.
Does Gleason support what her department has become? Is she in touch with Elon Musk? Does she even know she’s the head of DOGE? In some ways, this mystery has been solved, but in other ways it continues.
