For weeks now, many of us have believed that the Department of Government Efficiency is helmed by Elon Musk. The tech mogul has been the face of DOGE since its establishment, and this led many to consider him the head honcho of it. Furthermore, his role in sending out the task completion e-mail demand to federal employees seemed to solidify the possibility of Musk being the administrator of DOGE.
However, people within the White House and the Oval Office were uncomfortable with Elon Musk leading DOGE, as they felt that he did not have “actual or formal authority to make government decisions himself.” This resulted in a court filing, making the Donald Trump Administration reveal that Musk is just a senior advisor to the President and that he does not call the shots at the Department of Government Efficiency.
This is a real picture pic.twitter.com/HFSxrpbiju
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 20, 2025
The claim that Elon Musk is a mere advisor made everyone demand that the Trump Administration disclose the identity of the real head of DOGE, leading to the revelation that the program was run by Amy Gleason. To be specific, Gleason is the acting administrator of the Department of Government Efficiency, as per the White House.
The 55-year-old mother of two was a part of the United States Digital Service (USDS) and helped Donald Trump, during his first term, to build the COVID-19 database. Not much is known about Amy Gleason apart from what’s mentioned on her LinkedIn page.
Her bio on the platform reads, “Experienced executive with a demonstrated history of improving healthcare technology, including electronic medical records, practice management, patient solutions, interoperability, and federal civic tech. My work is inspired by my firsthand experience navigating the healthcare system as a patient and caregiver, and I am passionate about creating a better healthcare experience and improving health outcomes.”
A quick glimpse at her feed also reveals that she attended the Pasco-Hernando State College in the Tampa area and the University of Tennessee. Her career mostly revolves around healthcare, and she has been a part of firms such as Main Street Health, apart from the USDS.
There has also been speculation that Amy Gleason was named as the acting head of the Department of Government Efficiency as a last-minute ditch due to demand and scrutiny. Gleason was reportedly unaware that her name was publicly revealed by the White House. In fact, she was on vacation in Mexico as per CBS.
DOGE has officially claimed that Amy Gleason is the administrator of DOGE. Conveniently, she is working remotely from Mexico and can’t appear in court.
These people make an absolute mockery of our Constitution.
— Daniel 🦋 (@d_feldman) February 25, 2025
However, the New York Times later reported that it was a previously scheduled vacation. Amy Gleason was first named in a report by WIRED, in which sources claimed that she and another official had told the remaining members of the program that DOGE would get “increasingly more hands-on within the organization over the coming weeks and months.”
