Is Elon Musk in charge of DOGE? Top Trump advisor says no

Is Elon Musk in charge of DOGE? According to the White House and Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller, the answer is no.

According to a lawsuit filing, President Donald Trump’s administration is arguing that Musk is not in charge nor an employee of DOGE but is rather a “Senior Advisor to the President.”

During an exchange with CNN host Brianna Keilar, Miller was asked who was in charge of DOGE and who was the administrator of the initiative.

Miller said that Trump was in charge of DOGE but was not the administrator of the unofficial department.

Last week, Musk was at the White House and answered questions related to DOGE.

During those questions he spoke in an authoritative manner in reference to DOGE stating that “our actions are maximally transparent” and “we are trying to be as transparent as possible.”

Keilar referenced the interview and asked Miller if Musk knew that he was not in charge of DOGE.

“Again, the president runs the government, then the president appoints advisors including Elon, including myself, including all the other staff here at the White House,” Miller said.

“And then those staff in turn execute the president’s commands and directions to all the agencies of the federal government. This is how democracy works.”

Miller’s answer is still not expressly clear as to who is in charge of DOGE if Musk does not.

In November, Trump stated that Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy were tapped to “lead” DOGE.

“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 backed out of co-leading the non-governmental organization several hours after Trump’s inauguration on Jan. 20.

Since DOGE’s creation it has gone after cutting federal spending deemed by the Trump administration to be wasteful and unnecessary.

These cuts have manifested most notably in a mass firing of federal workers, cuts to the National Institute of Health funding and slashing of USAID programs.

On Monday, protests against Trump, Musk and DOGE were held across the country dubbed, “No kings on Presidents Day.”