The White House has revealed the identity of the Department of Government Efficiency’s (DOGE) acting administrator: a little-known former healthcare technology consultant named Amy Gleason.
Ms Gleason has been acting as the leader of DOGE, which has been pushing agencies to fire employees, cancel contracts and make other budget cuts.
Although billionaire Elon Musk and his associates have been championing DOGE’s cuts, the White House has insisted that Mr Musk was overseeing the effort as a senior adviser to President Donald Trump, not a DOGE employee.
Here’s what we know about the woman technically running DOGE:
Who is Amy Gleason?
Ms Gleason, 53, is a low-profile executive with expertise in healthcare technology.
Amy Gleason worked for the United States Digital Service under the previous Trump administration. (LinkedIn)
She worked from 2018 through to 2021 in the United States Digital Service (USDS), an agency that has been renamed the US DOGE Service, according to her LinkedIn profile.
In that role, she worked with the White House on the federal response to the coronavirus pandemic.
A former USDS staffer told Reuters that Ms Gleason returned to the agency ahead of Trump’s inauguration as part of an effort to smooth the transition.
A White House official said Ms Gleason has acted as a liaison with other agencies.
When did she work in healthcare technology?
Between the Trump administrations, Ms Gleason had been working as “chief product officer” at two small Nashville-based healthcare startups, Russell Street Ventures and Main Street Health, according to her LinkedIn.
Both companies were founded by healthcare entrepreneur Brad Smith, who worked in the first Trump administration in several key healthcare roles.
He has also been working on the DOGE initiative.
The Main Street Health website has deleted Ms Gleason’s biography, but an archived version said she “spearheaded technology efforts for the federal COVID-19 response” and worked on projects with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
Ms Gleason also has a consulting firm called Gleason Strategies.
She has been a long-term advocate for curing a rare autoimmune disease called juvenile myositis, which affects her now-adult daughter.
She shared her frustrations with how the healthcare system handles such diseases in a 2020 TED talk.
Ms Gleason also worked as vice president for research at the Cure JM Foundation from 2014 to 2018 and was also a co-founder and executive at Care Sync, a telehealth company based in Florida.
What does Elon Musk have to do with DOGE?
As recently as last week US President Donald Trump has said Elon Musk is in charge of DOGE.
“I signed an order creating the Department of Government Efficiency and put a man named Elon Musk in charge,” Mr Trump said during a speech to the Future Investment Initiative Institute in Miami Beach, Florida last Wednesday.
The Trump administration has been repeatedly pressed to name the individual formally in charge of DOGE after a court filing this month revealed Mr Musk had no authority over the cost-cutting program.
Mr Musk’s role is an issue in lawsuits challenging the legality of DOGE’s moves including its access to sensitive government payment systems.
Mr Musk has threatened to fire federal workers who do not comply with his demand to justify their jobs, even after the Trump administration said workers did not have to respond.
About 21 civil service employees from DOGE resigned this week saying they refuse to use their technical expertise to “dismantle critical public services.”
More than 20,000 workers have been laid off across various government departments as part of the downsizing effort — a move spearheaded by DOGE.
ABC/Wires
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