Amy Gleason, a former health care investment executive, is serving as the acting administrator of the Department of Government Efficiency, the government-overhaul task force imposing dramatic changes across the federal bureaucracy under the direction of Elon Musk, a White House official said on Tuesday.
For two weeks, the Trump administration had resisted answering inquiries about who was formally leading the effort, which is housed in the White House. Mr. Musk, who is the world’s richest man and a key adviser to President Trump, has been clearly driving the effort, including by instigating an email to all federal employees on Saturday that instructed them to list their accomplishments during the last week.
But the White House has insisted in court that Mr. Musk is not the administrator of the cost-cutting team.
Although Mr. Musk has said the effort would be “maximally transparent,” the White House’s unwillingness to identify its administrator added to the sense of opacity surrounding the team. On Monday, a federal judge pressed the government for clarity about the billionaire’s role, expressing concern that unauthorized individuals were effectively running the office.
On Tuesday, a name was revealed: Ms. Gleason is serving as the temporary leader of what is formally known as the U.S. DOGE Service, according to the White House official, who was not authorized to speak publicly.
Mr. Trump created the office on Inauguration Day through an executive order, transforming a White House tech unit that had been established under President Barack Obama. Since then, staffers hired by Mr. Musk and his aides have fanned across the government and sought access to sensitive databases, scrutinized federal employees and even tried to shutter whole agencies.
Ms. Gleason did not immediately respond to a request for comment. She was scheduled to be on vacation in Mexico on Tuesday and told associates that she was not aware ahead of time that the White House planned to make public her role, according to people familiar with the situation, who spoke on the condition of anonymity out of fear of retaliation.
Ms. Gleason, a career official who worked at the digital service unit during Mr. Trump’s first term, rejoined the agency late last year, according to people familiar with her role and documents reviewed by The New York Times.
During the first Trump administration, the digital agency — which stations tech workers throughout the federal government to assist with modernization efforts — had posted Ms. Gleason with the Health and Human Services Department, where she worked on Covid response, according to documents seen by The Times.
Ms. Gleason has focused on health care reforms, which she said during a TEDx presentation in 2020 was inspired by her frustrations with the medical system after her daughter was diagnosed with a rare illness. After Mr. Trump’s first term, she joined Brad Smith, a health care executive who had worked with Mr. Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner on the Covid response, at an investment firm focused on health companies, taking the role of chief product officer.
Late last year, Mr. Smith began advising Mr. Musk’s cost-cutting efforts and eventually brought Ms. Gleason, who is based in Nashville, into the discussions, according to people familiar with the situation.
On Dec. 30, more than three weeks before Inauguration Day, Ms. Gleason was reintroduced at the digital service office as a “new hire” on an internal Slack channel, according to documents viewed by The Times.
“My previous time at USDS was incredibly meaningful — full of challenges, successes, and unforgettable experiences,” Ms. Gleason wrote as part of a “new hire spotlight” document seen by The Times. “I’m excited to meet new colleagues and dive into impactful projects once again.”
In January, Ms. Gleason met regularly with Mr. Smith and Steve Davis, a top aide to Mr. Musk, at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, where Mr. Musk has set up his DOGE offices, a person familiar with her work said.
In recent weeks, Ms. Gleason has overseen the overhaul of the digital service agency into Mr. Musk’s operation. Through executive order, Mr. Trump moved it from the Office of Management and Budget, where it had been housed since its founding, into the White House — a transition that effectively shielded its work from open records laws that could give the public insight into its operations.
During an all-hands meeting with staffers last week, Ms. Gleason told employees that they should adopt a “one team” mentality and work closely with their new counterparts, including dozens of young engineers and lawyers recruited by Mr. Musk to help him overhaul the federal bureaucracy.
But the takeover of the office has not gone smoothly. On Tuesday, 21 employees at U.S.D.S. announced their resignations, protesting the incursion on the federal government made by Mr. Musk and his allies.
“We will not use our skills as technologists to compromise core government systems, jeopardize Americans’ sensitive data, or dismantle critical public services,” the group wrote in its letter. “We will not lend our expertise to carry out or legitimize DOGE’s actions.”
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