Elon Musk has been the driving force behind the Department of Government Efficiency from the get go—but he isn't formally leading the task force. On Tuesday, it emerged who is. A White House official tells the New York Times that former health care investment executive Amy Gleason is DOGE's acting administrator. NBC News reports it is unclear when she was appointed to the role, and the Times adds this via sources: "She was scheduled to be on vacation in Mexico on Tuesday and told associates that she was not aware ahead of time that the White House planned to make public her role."
The AP reports the identity of the employee at the helm of DOGE had been a mystery as recently as, well, Tuesday. A government lawyer on Monday told a judge that he didn't know who DOGE's acting administrator was, and White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt declined to name the person during a press briefing earlier on Tuesday.
As for Gleason, the Times reports she worked at the White House tech unit—the United States Digital Service—that was created under President Obama and revamped as DOGE. Gleason reportedly worked at the tech unit during the first Trump administration and was assigned to assist the Health and Human Services Department with its COVID response. She left in 2021, per her LinkedIn, and reportedly rejoined the agency in late 2024. (On Tuesday, 21 DOGE staffers announced their resignations.)