A United States judge has sought to determine the exact role of businessman Elon Musk in the US government’s Department of Government Efficiency, also known as DOGE.
During a hearing on Monday in a case trying to block access by the DOGE cost-cutting team to Treasury Department systems, a federal judge repeatedly pressed a government lawyer to clarify who is running things at the department.
“Where is Mr Musk in all of this?” US district judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly asked, according to the Associated Press.
“I don’t have any information beyond close adviser to the president,” Bradley Humphreys, an attorney for the Department of Justice, however, responded.
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“You can’t tell me what role he has?” the judge remarked.
However, according to the news agency, she did not say if she would block DOGE and Musk from the Treasury Department information systems as requested.
Criticism of DOGE
The Musk-led department was created by an executive order signed by US President Donald Trump.
DOGE aims to cut the government’s alleged wasteful spending, but has lately come under fire for its access to official systems, slashing programs, and direction to federal employees.
However, despite Musk’s public assertions, DOGE is criticised for operating in secrecy, according to AP.
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The initial executive orders signed by President Donald Trump setting up DOGE described it primarily as an outfit to modernize software, not an agency. The Trump administration designated Musk a “special government employee.
Even though Musk has largely been the public face of DOGE, the White House, in a February 17 court filing, has said that Musk is not the outfit’s administrator or even a DOGE employee.
On Tuesday, the White House identified Amy Gleason as DOGE’s “acting administrator.”