The White House claims that Musk does not work for DOGE and does not have decision-making authority

The White House stated in a court filing on Monday that billionaire Elon Musk is not an employee of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) and does not have any decision-making authority. Instead, he is a senior advisor to the president and a White House employee in the Trump administration.

Musk may only advise the president and convey the president’s orders, according to a document signed by Joshua Fisher, head of the White House Office of Administration.

“Like other senior White House advisors, Mr. Musk has no actual or formal authority to make government decisions himself,” added the statement.

In the State of New Mexico’s lawsuit against Musk, Fisher’s filing said that Musk was not employed by the U.S. DOGE Service or the U.S. DOGE Service Temporary Organization and that “Mr. Musk is not the U.S. DOGE Service Administrator.”

Since Donald Trump took office last month, DOGE has swept through federal agencies, placing Musk, the CEO of Tesla (TSLA.O), in charge of eliminating unnecessary spending as part of a massive government overhaul that has resulted in the loss of thousands of jobs.