(NewsNation) — During Donald Trump’s joint address to Congress on Tuesday evening, the president again contradicted his administration’s claims of who is running the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
In his speech, Trump again said the department is “headed” by billionaire Elon Musk.
Does Elon Musk run DOGE?
The White House has offered contradictory statements on who is running the agency tasked with eliminating so-called wasteful spending in the U.S. federal government.
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The “acting administrator” of DOGE is a low-profile executive who has expertise in health care technology and worked in the first Trump administration.
The White House in late February identified Amy Gleason as the acting leader of DOGE, which has been pushing agencies to fire employees, cancel contracts and make other budget cuts.
Potential conflicts of interest
Although DOGE’s cuts have been championed by Musk and his associates, the White House has insisted Musk is overseeing the effort as a senior adviser to the president, not a DOGE employee.
Musk, the world’s richest person, does not draw a government salary and operates as a “special government employee,” the White House has said. It has been vague on Musk’s exact role in DOGE.
Democrats on the House Oversight Committee are introducing a pair of resolutions demanding the Trump administration turn over documents and information about Musk’s potential conflicts of interest and the firings of federal workers, according to The Associated Press.
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The resolution from Democratic Rep. Gerald Connolly of Virginia would launch an investigation into Musk himself over potential conflicts of interest.
Musk’s companies receive hundreds of millions of dollars each year in contracts. SpaceX has secured nearly $20 billion in federal funds since 2008 to ferry astronauts and satellites into space. Tesla had already received $41.9 million from the U.S. government, including payment for vehicles provided to some U.S. embassies.
Salaries at DOGE
While Musk works to gut federal agencies, DOGE staffers are reportedly making six-figure salaries.
Business and technology magazine Wired reports that Jeremy Lewin, who was instrumental in dismantling USAID, makes over $167,000 per year. Kyle Schutt, a software engineer working within the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, takes home $195,200, according to the report.
Wired reported several other DOGE staffers also receive six-figure government-funded salaries.
