Musk is not an employee of DOGE and "has no actual or formal authority," White House says
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.
Musk, along with fellow billionaire Vivek Ramaswamy, was originally tasked by Mr. Trump with providing "advice and guidance from outside of Government" and partnering with the White House and Office of Management & Budget to drive large scale structural reform." Ramaswamy left DOGE in January and is planning a run for Ohio governor.
Since Mr. Trump took office, DOGE has driven massive federal employee cuts and paused tranches of congressionally approved spending. Many of those federal workers, their unions and Democratic officials have argued that this is a result of Musk's unchecked authority. Mr. Trump has suggested that Musk largely answers to him.
Last week, Musk — the world's richest person, with a net worth of $398 billion — stood behind President Trump at the Oval Office, describing DOGE's work as taking "very simple and basic" steps to cut federal spending. During a lengthy Q&A that followed, Mr. Trump was asked if there was anything Musk was told that he can't touch.
"Well, we haven't discussed that much," Mr. Trump replied. "I'll tell him to go here, go there, he does it. He's got a very capable group of people."
Asked by reporters if he was working closely with agency heads, Musk replied that he was working "in partnership" with them. "I check with the president to make sure that this is what the president wants to happen," Musk added. "We talk almost every day, and I double check things to make sure. 'Is this something, Mr. President, you want us to do this?' Then we'll do it."
Multiple lawsuits, alarm bells
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.
The White House's Feb. 17 filing came at the request of U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan, who is hearing a case about the constitutionality of Musk's actions since the start of Mr. Trump's presidency. Fourteen states ranging from Arizona to Washington are suing Musk, DOGE and Mr. Trump, alleging that Musk is exceeding his authority and taking "actions that can only be taken by a nominated and principal officer of the United States."
The lawsuit claims that Musk "does not occupy an office created by law and has no authority to exercise the powers of a principal officer, or any other officer."
"There is no greater threat to democracy than the accumulation of state power in the hands of a single, unelected individual," the lawsuit alleges. "In recent weeks, defendant Elon Musk, with President Donald J. Trump's approval, has roamed through the federal government unraveling agencies, accessing sensitive data and causing mass chaos and confusion for state and local governments, federal employees and the American people," the lawsuit further claims.
At a Feb. 17 hearing, Justice Department attorney Harry Graver told Chutkan, "There is not a single instance of Musk or USDS commanding these actions," referring to widespread firings of government employees across various agencies last week. Instead, the government workers were fired by officials within their own agencies, he said.
When asked at a press briefing at Mar-a-lago on Tuesday about the administration's contention that Musk isn't in charge of DOGE, Mr. Trump said, "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."
On Tuesday, Judge Chutkan ruled against the states' request for a temporary restraining order to stop Musk and DOGE from accessing data systems at seven federal agencies and firing or putting their employees on leave. She found that the states failed to show that they would suffer imminent, irreparable harm without relief, writing in her ruling that "the 'possibility' that defendants may take actions that irreparably harm plaintiffs 'is not enough.'"
Nonetheless, in a hearing Monday, Chutkan warned that the alleged actions by Musk and DOGE are "concerning" and "troubling." She said the mass firings of thousands of federal workers is "not a small or common thing" and noted that Musk has not been nominated to a position by the president or confirmed by the Senate.
"No actual or formal authority"
The Feb. 17 filing states that Musk is working as a "senior adviser to the president," comparing his role to that of Anita Dunn under the Biden administration. Dunn served as a special government employee when she advised former President Biden, the filing noted.
"Like other senior White House advisers, Mr. Musk has no actual or formal authority to make government decisions himself," the filing said. "Mr. Musk can only advise the president and communicate the president's directives."
Musk's role as a special government employee, or SGE, confirmed by the White House earlier this month, indicates that he'll work for the Trump administration for 130 days or less during a one-year period. The SGE role was created in 1962 as a way of enabling the government to tap outside expertise, according to the publication Government Executive.
Because Musk isn't paid for his work at the White House, his financial disclosure report will remain confidential, a White House official has told CBS News on condition of anonymity
Asked at the Oval Office last week whether there are issues with conflicts of interest between his businesses, including Tesla and Space X — which receive billions in federal contracts — and DOGE, Musk said that the task force's work is transparent. He added, "So you can see everything that's going on, and then you can see, am I doing something that benefits one of my companies or not? It's totally obvious."
