The White House revealed Tuesday the identity of the woman now acting as administrator of the Department of Government Efficiency.
Amy Gleason, 53, is a little known former healthcare technology consultant and apparently formally put in charge of Elon Musk’s DOGE.
Musk is in a position known as a special government employee – or SGE – which is a way to allow a private individual to work paid or unpaid for the government for a limited time without being subjected to the same restrictions of a full-time federal employee.
SGEs can work for the government in a temporary manner for a period of 130 days maximum during 365 consecutive days.
The Trump administration said in a court filing earlier in February that Musk has no authority over DOGE, despite the president repeatedly claiming the billionaire ‘first buddy’ is in charge of the massive cost-cutting program.
Since that filing, the White House has been peppered with questions over who is really running the initiative that has cut billions in contracts, thousands of jobs and even gutted entire government agencies.
Gleason previously worked as an official at the U.S. Digital Service (USDS) from 2018 through 2021. In this role she worked at the White House on the federal response to the coronavirus pandemic during Trump’s first term.
Amy Gleason, 53, was named as the government employee serving as administrator of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE)
USDS was created under President Barack Obama’s administration in an effort to modernize the government’s technology infrastructure.
After Trump’s inauguration on January 20, the Digital Service was renamed U.S. DOGE Service and is now working to radically downsize the federal government. Also after that date, Gleason returned to the USDS to assist in a smooth transition, a former staffer told Reuters.
A White House official said Gleason has acted as a liaison between DOGE and other agencies.
Though it isn’t immediately clear if Gleason was just named to the role or if she held it since the formation of the new agency.
According to Gleason’s LinkedIn profile, she has worked as a senior advisor to the United States Digital Service since last month. It also shows she was an independent consultant and product officer at a healthcare venture capital firm and rural healthcare organization.
Trump’s executive order signed last month establishing DOGE states that the administrator reports to White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles.
Musk’s all-powerful and questionable role in government has caused issues in lawsuits challenging the legality of DOGE’s actions and announcements – including access to sensitive government payment systems.
The Trump administration said in a February court filing that Musk has no government-level authority over DOGE, despite the president repeatedly claiming the billionaire ‘first buddy’ is in charge of the massive cost-cutting program
Amy Gleason (pictured) previously worked as an official at the U.S. Digital Service (USDS) from 2018 through 2021, the agency was renamed U.S. DOGE Service after Trump formed the group after his January 20 inauguration
The White House said in a court filing earlier this month that Musk is a White House employee and senior adviser to the president. The administration has said Musk is an unpaid ‘special government employee,’ which means his role is temporary.
Federal workers are confused over who has authority over them and the future of their employment as Musk threatens their jobs on social media.
On Saturday night, Musk posted to his social media website X that if federal employees did not respond to the DOGE email sent from the Office of Personnel Management it would be taken as their resignation.
The email demanded employees detail five things they ‘accomplished’ at work last week.
‘It took me a minute and a half to think of five things I did last week,’ Trump’s Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said at a press conference on Tuesday where she assured that the White House would reveal the identity of the DOGE administrator.
