Democrats launch probe into Musk's White House role

House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Democrats are launching a probe into Elon Musk’s status as a government employee, citing conflicting statements about his role in the Trump administration and power over the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).

The administration has offered confusing statements about Musk’s role in the government as DOGE employees move from agency to agency looking through datasets and carrying out cuts.

In a court filing Monday, White House official Joshua Fisher said Musk was not the formal head of DOGE but rather a senior adviser, with “no greater authority than other senior White House advisors.”

But speaking to reporters Wednesday, President Trump said the opposite.

“In direct contradiction to Mr. Fisher’s sworn statement, at a press conference on the evening of February 19, 2025, you stated, ‘I signed an order creating the Department of Government Efficiency and put a man named Elon Musk in charge,’” Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-Va.) wrote in a letter to Trump.

“As the American people can plainly see, Mr. Musk wields immense authority over the U.S. DOGE Service … and the federal government generally, with the purported power to feed Congressionally authorized and funded federal agencies 'through the wood chipper,' yet parts of the White House appear intent on obscuring the facts of his role. To ensure transparency on the authority you have granted Mr. Musk and the legal authority he has to direct DOGE, I request that you provide substantive documentation regarding his formal role,” Connolly wrote.

How the White House has described Musk’s status has evolved over the course of the few months since DOGE was conceived.

Musk was named as a co-leader of DOGE alongside Vivek Ramaswamy in November, though Ramaswamy left the effort before Trump was even sworn in.

Shortly after taking office, the White House also described Musk as a special government employee, a status that subjects him to fewer ethics rules and financial disclosures but also limits his unpaid role to 130 days.

Fisher’s sworn statement still refers to Musk as such but adds that he “has no actual or formal authority to make government decisions himself. Mr. Musk can only advise the President and communicate the President’s directives.”

The letter from Connolly asks who the administrator of DOGE is as well as what Musk’s role is in relation to DOGE and for an organization chart for the entity.

It also asks whether Musk has ever made a decision regarding the operations of DOGE or another government agency or “issued a directive to a member of the U.S. DOGE Service.”

Any response from the White House could have implications in more than a dozen suits that have been filed challenging DOGE’s authority or access to databases at various government agencies.

Some could seek to sue Musk in his official capacity, and while Fisher’s statement could limit the legal exposure of Musk for now, his statement is likely to raise further questions about the authority of DOGE to take various actions.

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