Who Runs DOGE?

First, Trump announced that Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy would head up DOGE. Then Ramaswamy left to run for governor, leaving Musk as the sole head of DOGE. Musk repeatedly spoke as the head of DOGE and claimed that he and DOGE were rooting out fraud and inefficiency, though without ever furnishing evidence. 

From November 6 to February 17, Trump and Musk and everybody else called Musk the head of DOGE. They said he was a “special government employee” and did not have to follow any pesky ethics rules about conflicts of interest. Trump, his press secretary, and Musk himself repeatedly boasted of Musk’s actions as head of DOGE. Musk and Trump appeared together in the Oval Office to tout DOGE and Musk’s work. 

Then came half a dozen lawsuits challenging the scope and legitimacy of the power of DOGE and Musk. 

From the complaint in J. Doe 1-26 v. Musk (D. Md):

“It is clear, however, that the duties Defendant Musk and the DOGE team he directs have performed thus far—and the new duties he is now undertaking, such as starting to dismantle the Department of Education—represent ‘the performance of [] significant governmental dut[ies]’ that may be ‘exercised only by persons who are ‘Officers of the United States,’’ and duly appointed pursuant to the U.S. Constitution’s Appointments Clause. Buckley v. Valeo, 424 U.S. 1, 141 (1976).

“But Defendant Musk has not been nominated by President Trump and confirmed by the U.S. Senate, as Article II of the United States Constitution requires. Moreover, even if Defendant Musk qualified only as an inferior officer (a dubious proposition, given his sweeping powers), Congress has not vested ‘by Law’ the authority to appoint him in the President alone, without the advice and consent of the Senate. Finally, even if Defendant Musk could somehow be considered a mere ‘employee’ rather than an ‘officer’ of the United States, his exercise of ‘significant,’ seemingly unfettered authority constitutes a grave violation of the separation-of-powers.”

The Washington Post explains, in less legalistic language: 

“The appointments clause of the Constitution says that high-ranking officers of the United States can serve only ‘by and with the advice and consent of the Senate.’ Musk has not gone through any confirmation process.

“A president can also appoint people known as ‘inferior officers,’ who aren’t subject to Senate confirmation. But their positions must be formally authorized by Congress, and Trump created DOGE by executive order.”

The White House back-pedaled rapidly in official court filings, claiming that Musk is not really the head of DOGE. 

What is he? A “senior adviser” to Trump, not a part of DOGE at all. And, as a mere advisor, not required to be confirmed by the Senate. 

Who is the boss of the DOGE stooges now snooping through Social Security and Medicare and IRS records? Your records? My records?

Who heads DOGE? No answer from the White House. Crickets. Nada. 

Let’s hope the courts are ready to call bullshit and end this sorry chapter. 

Republicans in the House and Senate continue to uncritically support the Trump/Musk dismantling of government. They own the unfolding disaster that is the Trump/Musk administration.