White House says DOGE Doesn’t Have Statutory Authority to Fire Anyone

The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) does not have the statutory authority to fire people, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said Tuesday.

Leavitt told CNN that DOGE has only an advisory role and “it’s ultimately up to the discretion of these secretaries to make these hirings and firings.”

Why It Matters

DOGE head Elon Musk has been accused of acting with “seemingly limitless and unchecked power to strip the government of its workforce and eliminate entire departments with the stroke of a pen,” in a recent lawsuit filed by multiple Democratic state attorneys general.

Musk has boasted about “feeding USAID into the wood chipper” after the foreign aid agency was hit with sweeping cuts and mass layoffs and furloughs.

He also joined President Donald Trump in the Oval Office while the president signed an executive order warning federal agencies to prepare for mass layoffs. More than 10,000 government employees were then laid off across multiple agencies over Presidents Day weekend.

The billionaire and his team of young DOGE recruits, including a 19-year-old high school graduate, have gained access to millions of Americans’ highly sensitive information at the Treasury Department.

What To Know

The Trump administration appears to be downplaying the power of DOGE, and walking back its portrayal of Musk as its leader, as it responds to the lawsuit.

The legal filing argues that Musk’s power violates the Constitution’s “Appointments Clause,” which requires Congress to approve officers in the executive branch.

In a court filing Monday night, the Trump administration said, “Like other senior White House advisors, Mr. Musk has no actual or formal authority to make government decisions himself.”

The filings also claimed that DOGE has no power to order personnel decisions. Leavitt added Tuesday that layoffs are up to individual agency heads rather than DOGE.

On Fox News on Tuesday, Leavitt described Musk as “a special government employee here at the White House serving at the direction of the President of the United States Donald Trump.”

“And DOGE employees, DOGE folks, have been onboarding at respective agencies across our federal bureaucracies as political appointees,” she said.

“Just like any other political appointee gets on board with a new administration with the changing of hands, those individuals are helping our secretaries at all of agencies, that have been nominated and confirmed by President Trump and the United States Senate to cut waste fraud and abuse at these respective agencies.”

What People Are Saying

President Donald Trump, in the White House last week: “I want to commend Elon, because he’s done a fantastic job. And it’s his group of people, they started off with 12, I call them 12 geniuses. They started off with 12 and they went to 20 and 25. And now they’re up to almost 100.”

Elon Musk on X, former Twitter, which he owns, on February 3: “We spent the weekend feeding USAID into the wood chipper. Could have gone to some great parties. Did that instead.”

Legal complaint from 14 state attorneys general: “There is no office of the United States, other than the President, with the full power of the Executive Branch, and the sweeping authority now vested in a single unelected and unconfirmed individual is antithetical to the nation’s entire constitutional structure.”

Protester Laura Olson, at the 50501 Movement protest in Boston, told Newsweek: “Nobody elected Musk. He’s destroying our government.”

What Happens Next

The judge presiding over the lawsuit said she doesn’t believe she can impose a general restraining order on Musk and DOGE as there is not enough evidence. But she said that may change in the future.