Amy Gleason has been described as in charge of DOGE, although the president says Elon Musk is leading the department.
The head of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has also been working for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), according to a new court filing.
Amy Gleason, the DOGE administrator, works for HHS as an expert/consultant in addition to her duties at DOGE, according to a document
filed with the U.S. court in Washington by the Trump administration.
Gleason’s dual roles were described in prior filings, but her name had been kept under seal until March 18.
The White House and HHS did not respond to requests for comment.
President Donald Trump has described Elon Musk as being in charge of DOGE, which has been helping government agencies fire workers and undergo restructuring. The White House in
February said that Gleason was DOGE’s acting administrator.
Officials also said that Musk was not a DOGE employee and that he did not have decision-making authority.
Gleason, whose work history includes years in the health care industry, was detailed to HHS in February, an HHS official
told the federal court in Washington on March 11 without naming Gleason. Garey Rice, the official, also
said that Gleason had been provided access to HHS systems related to financial management “in order to audit those programs for waste, fraud, and abuse.”
Gleason
said in a recent court filing that she is a full-time employee at DOGE who oversees all of DOGE’s employees and detailees and reports to White House chief of staff Susie Wiles. Gleason did not mention her work at HHS.
DOGE was established by Trump in January. In February, when Gleason began working for HHS, DOGE was involved in multiple projects, including leading the effort to dismantle the U.S. Agency for International Development. A federal
judge this week ruled that DOGE appeared responsible for shutting down the agency’s headquarters and removing its website, actions the judge said likely violate the U.S. Constitution.
Government officials disclosed Gleason’s work at HHS in a case brought by unions, including the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations. The unions alleged that DOGE was violating federal law by accessing systems at some U.S. agencies.
U.S. District Judge John Bates, who is overseeing the case,
in February ordered the government to respond to questions from the unions in part because he said that there was still a lack of clarity on whether DOGE employees are also agency employees. He also required a DOGE worker and three other federal officials to sit for depositions.
Government lawyers recently asked Bates to reconsider his ruling. They said that DOGE has stopped detailing employees to any agencies.
“Thus, all individuals performing such work will be employees of the agencies themselves or detailees from another agency that is indisputably subject to the Economy Act,” they
wrote, adding that the change “should obviate the need for expedited discovery prior to the resolution of a motion to dismiss.”
The attorneys also requested the judge allow them to redact documents attesting to the developments showing the names of the individuals, arguing that making the information public would expose the people to harassment.
Bates
denied that request, finding that Gleason and the other people have already been linked to DOGE and that they are senior DOGE employees.
That led to Tuesday’s disclosure of the identities of Gleason and two others.
Brad Smith, one of the others, has also been working with HHS in addition to DOGE, according to filings. Jordan Wick, the other, has had dual roles at DOGE and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
