WASHINGTON: The White House says billionaire Elon Musk is not technically part of the Department of Government Efficiency team that is sweeping through federal agencies, but is rather a senior adviser to President Donald Trump.
Musk’s exact role could be key in the legal fight over DOGE’s access to government data as the Trump administration moves to lay off thousands of federal workers. Defining him as an adviser rather than the administrator in charge of day-to-day operations at DOGE could help the administration push back against a lawsuit arguing Musk has too much power for someone who isn’t elected or Senate-confirmed.
The declaration was filed Monday as the Trump administration fends off the lawsuit from several Democratic states that want to block Musk and the DOGE team from accessing government systems. The litigants say Musk is wielding “virtually unchecked power” in violation of the Constitution.
The Trump administration, on the other hand, says Musk is not a DOGE employee and has “no actual authority to make government decisions himself,” Joshua Fisher, director of the White House Office of Administration, said in court papers. The documents do not name the administrator of DOGE, whose work Musk has championed in posts on his social-media platform X and in a public appearance at the White House.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt declined Tuesday to say who is leading DOGE. Layoffs are up to individual agency heads rather than DOGE, she said.
The DOGE team has roamed from agency to agency, tapping into computer systems, digging into budgets and searching for waste, fraud and abuse, while lawsuits pile up claiming Trump and DOGE are violating the law. At least two are targeting Musk himself.
Last week, Musk called for the US to “delete entire agencies” from the federal government as part of the push to radically cut spending and restructure its priorities.
US District Judge Tanya Chutkan seemed skeptical in a hearing Monday when Justice Department lawyers asserted that Musk has no formal authority.
“I think you stretch too far. I disagree with you there,” Chutkan said.
White House says Elon Musk is not in charge at DOGE, but is advising the president
https://arab.news/pw2e4
White House says Elon Musk is not in charge at DOGE, but is advising the president
- Musk’s exact role could be key in the legal fight over DOGE’s access to government data
- The Trump administration, on the other hand, says Musk is not a DOGE employee
Bangladesh’s Tarique Rahman poised to be PM as Jamaat-e-Islami concedes election
- Election Commission figures showed Bangladesh Nationalist Party won a landslide victory in Thursday’s polls
- Jamaat-e-Islami chief Shafiqur Rahman says ‘we recognize the overall outcome, and we respect the rule of law’
Dhaka: Bangladesh’s largest religious party conceded defeat in elections on Saturday, despite earlier alleging problems with the vote count, clearing the way for nationalist leader Tarique Rahman to become prime minister.
Election Commission figures showed Rahman’s Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) had won a landslide victory in the elections on Thursday, the first since a deadly 2024 uprising ousted the iron-fisted rule of Sheikh Hasina.
The success of BNP chief Rahman, 60, marks a remarkable turnaround for a man who only returned to Bangladesh in December after 17 years in exile in Britain, far from Dhaka’s political storms.
Rahman, the scion of one of Bangladesh’s most powerful political dynasties, is expected to make a victory speech later on Saturday.
His father, president Ziaur Rahman, was assassinated in 1981, while his mother, Khaleda Zia, served three terms as prime minister and dominated national politics for decades.
Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus, who has led the country of 170 million as interim leader since the uprising, said Rahman “would help guide the country toward stability, inclusiveness, and development.”
The BNP alliance won 212 seats compared with 77 for the Jamaat-e-Islami-led alliance, according to the Electoral Commission.
‘VERDICT OF THE PEOPLE’
Jamaat-e-Islami chief Shafiqur Rahman, 67, had said on Friday he would “seek redress” from the commission, with his party alleging “inconsistencies and fabrications.”
But a day later, he conceded defeat.
“In any genuine democratic journey, the true test of leadership is not only how we campaign, but how we respond to the verdict of the people,” the Jamaat leader said in a statement.
“We recognize the overall outcome, and we respect the rule of law.”
Hasina’s Awami League party was barred from taking part. Hasina, 78, who was sentenced to death in absentia for crimes against humanity, issued a statement from hiding in India decrying an “illegal and unconstitutional election.”
The US embassy congratulated Rahman and the BNP for a “historic victory,” while neighboring India praised Rahman’s “decisive win,” a notable shift after deeply strained ties.
China and Pakistan, which both grew closer to Bangladesh since the 2024 uprising and the souring of ties with India, where Hasina has sheltered since her ouster, also congratulated the BNP.
International election observers said the polls had been a success, with the European Union saying Saturday they had been “credible.”
The International Republican Institute noted that while “election administration was technically sound, the broader political environment remains fragile.”
‘SUCCESSFUL’
Jamaat’s Rahman said his party “will serve as a vigilant, principled, and peaceful opposition, holding the government to account.”
Election Commissioner Md Anwarul Islam Sarker told AFP that the vote had been a success.
“It was by far the best election,” he said, noting that voting was canceled at only one of the more than 42,000 polling centers.
“People had doubts about whether a successful election could be held under these circumstances, but we have done it,” he said Saturday. “If anyone still has any issues, they can go to court.”
The Election Commission said turnout was 59 percent across 299 constituencies out of 300 in which voting took place.
Only seven women were elected, although a further 50 seats in parliament reserved for women will be named from party lists.
Shafiqur Rahman stressed the significant gains his Islamist party had made compared with past elections, after years of being crushed under Hasina.
“With 77 seats, we have nearly quadrupled our parliamentary presence and become one of the strongest opposition blocs in modern Bangladeshi politics,” he said. “That is not a setback. That is a foundation.”
Voters on Thursday also endorsed proposals in a referendum for a sweeping democratic reform charter backed by Yunus, to overhaul what he called a “completely broken” system of government and to prevent a return to one-party rule.
Those include prime ministerial term limits, a new upper house of parliament, stronger presidential powers and greater judicial independence.
Crisis Group analyst Thomas Kean warned that the incoming government now faced “daunting challenges,” including “boosting the economy, ensuring security and continuing the reform process.”
