In a new court filing late on Monday, the Trump administration provided the most detail yet about Elon Musk's role in the federal government. This comes at the request of Judge Tanya Chutkan, in a case brought by a number of Democratic state attorneys general against Musk and the so-called Department of Government Efficiency.
The plaintiffs have requested a temporary restraining order that would block Musk and DOGE from accessing sensitive government data and directing firings.
During a virtual hearing earlier Monday, Judge Chutkan asked the government how many employees DOGE has directed government agencies to fire and how many they plan to cut in the coming weeks. The government attorney said he didn't know or couldn't answer.
Justice Department attorneys wrote that agencies have terminated "a number" of employees and they "cannot make a programmatic representation at this juncture" as to how many more they'll get rid of in the next two weeks.
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But later in the filing, the DOJ attorneys claimed Musk "has no actual or formal authority to make government decisions himself — including personnel decisions at individual agencies." They noted he formally works under the White House, not as a member of DOGE. The DOJ says DOGE doesn't have authority to direct personnel actions.
A declaration from Joshua Fisher, director of the Office of Administration, attests to the above, and also notes that Musk is not the DOGE administrator.
Scripps News has asked officials to clarify who, then, is administering DOGE. The White House has so far not issued a response.
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