One of ex-DOGE supremo Elon Musk’s closest allies revolted against the White House by refusing to leave his position despite multiple orders to step down.
Steve Davis, Musk’s former government lieutenant, continued to exert his authority over the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) even after receiving explicit White House orders to stop. Top Trump officials eventually had to step in and shut him down, Politico reported this week.
Politico revealed this week that Davis’ departure was quite chaotic. On May 29, the White House announced that Davis was following Musk out of Washington. But instead, the Tesla billionaire’s second-in-command refused to leave.
Davis had played a major role in DOGE and was instrumental in slashing diversity initiatives, hiring Musk-approved staff, dismantling federal agencies, and firing hundreds of employees.
Davis, 45, was DOGE’s most powerful day-to-day leader. But in June, the White House Presidential Personnel Office was forced to tell DOGE leads to cut off all communications with the loyal Musk devotee because Davis was acting like he had never been dismissed.
He was still in touch with his staffers, asking for DOGE updates, running meetings, and even planning for a DOGE 2.0 in which staffers would work more closely with Cabinet secretaries.
He was on the sixth floor of the General Services Administration (GSA) “running the meeting like it was business as usual,” one person told Politico. Several people started questioning his role.
“A lot of people got uncomfortable,” one employee said about the dynamic after the White House ordered the DOGE team to cut contract with Davis. “So many people received that message from the White House and I think that bothered them, that Steve was continuing to tell everybody that everything is normal and to act like he is still involved in running the show.”
But when the employees sought clarity from DOGE general counsel Austin Raynor, who affirmed that Davis was no longer a government employee, Davis retaliated. He sent out a trio of allies to assess the loyalty of DOGE staffers and installed them as the new heads of the program.
“They claimed authority from [Vice President] JD Vance and [chief of staff] Susie Wiles but actually did not and do not have it—they were bluffing,” one person told Politico. They added that the White House is aware and working to ensure that the new heads only have authority at the GSA solely.
A Trump administration official, however, denied the account, adding that the three Davis allies—GSA Acting Administrator Stephen Ehikian, Josh Gruenbaum, and Anthony Armstrong—did not assess anyone’s loyalty and never claimed authority from the White House.
Still, on June 7, Davis weeded out disloyal followers by removing people from Signal group chats with no explanation.
Before taking his role at the White House, Davis had dedicated two decades to Musk and followed him to various companies. He was one of Musk’s first hires at SpaceX and also worked at X.
The New York Times reported in March that Davis believed that Musk would pave the way for humankind’s advancement and Musk believed Davis had an unparalleled capability to cut costs and slice through government waste.
“Steve is like chemo,” Musk once said at a transition meeting before President Trump took office. “A little chemo can save your life; a lot of chemo could kill you.”
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