After taking office, Trump renamed the existing United States Digital Service to the U.S. DOGE Service, or “Department of Government Efficiency,” empowered by the president to audit federal agencies and block the transfer of congressionally approved funds in a crusade against “waste” and “fraud” with little evidence to show for it.
In a sworn statement in court documents, a senior White House official said that Musk is “not an employee” of DOGE and is “not the U.S. DOGE Service Administrator.
Groups suing Musk and DOGE argue that Musk has assumed so much power that he appears to be violating the Constitution’s appointments clause, which requires senior executive branch officials to be confirmed by the Senate.
Last week, a judge in a separate case noted that DOGE is trying to “escape” the “obligations that accompany agencyhood” — including being subject to the Freedom of Information Act, the Privacy Act and the Administrative Procedures Act — “while reaping only its benefits.”.
“I signed an order creating the Department of Government Efficiency, and put a man named Elon Musk in charge,” Trump said on February 19.
