- The White House released the name of the DOGE office’s acting administrator.
- It is Amy Gleason, a former nurse who has spent decades in the medical records space.
- For weeks, it was unclear who, if anyone, occupied the position.
The White House on Tuesday named Amy Gleason as the acting administrator of the White House DOGE office following weeks of confusion over who was leading the agency.
A White House official confirmed Gleason’s role to Business Insider. As of early Tuesday evening, Gleason hadn’t publicly commented on the appointment, and her account on X was private. In her bio, she identified herself as a “former COVID response with US Digital Service.”
Representatives for the White House, Musk, DOGE, and Gleason did not respond to a request for comment from BI.
Gleason worked in multiple roles at the United States Digital Service, the Obama-era agency that President Donald Trump rebranded as the US DOGE Service, according to her LinkedIn. She served as a Digital Services Expert at the agency from October 2018 to December 2021 and as a Senior Advisor starting in January 2025, according to the LinkedIn page.
Jonathan Kamens, a former USDS engineer who was fired on February 14, and a current USDS employee both told Business Insider that Gleason rejoined the agency between the election and the inauguration.
“From our view, she has been as surprised by things coming out of DOGE as the rest of us,” the current employee said. They said that they do not see her as “part of Musk’s crew.”
Kamens said he was told Gleason was there to help with the transition to the second Trump administration.
Gleason’s background stretches into the private sector, too, and even bumps up against the profiles of other White House DOGE Office staffers, per her LinkedIn profile. The page indicates that Gleason worked as the chief product officer at Russell Street Ventures between November 2021 and December 2024, a health industry investment firm founded by Brad Smith, whom BI previously identified as a DOGE employee. Kendall Lindemann, whom BI also identified as working for the DOGE effort, also worked at Russell Street Ventures.
Gleason’s path has differed from some of the private sector titans and young engineers involved in the White House DOGE Office. She started out as a nurse, according to a 2022 podcast appearance with the company Syllable. Gleason also said on the podcast she previously cofounded a company to help patients with a chronic disease, sparked by the experience of coordinating care after her daughter was diagnosed with a rare illness.
“The rest of my career is mainly electronic medical records starting as a ER nurse,” Gleason said on the podcast.
According to her LinkedIn, Gleason has worked in senior positions at a variety of healthcare companies since the late 1990s.
The Obama White House honored Gleason as a “Champion of Change” for her work in the medical records space.
Though Elon Musk is closely associated with the DOGE office, the White House previously said in a court filing that he is not the group’s leader and instead serves as a senior advisor to Trump. BI previously reported that Musk’s title was written as “unlisted” in a White House record.
For weeks, the White House had declined to say whether there was a DOGE administrator — let alone name one. Trump created the position on Inauguration Day. He had previously said Elon Musk would lead the DOGE office, though Musk was never named to the position.
On Tuesday, reporters repeatedly pressed White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt on who was the DOGE administrator. After her briefing concluded, Semafor first reported Gleason’s role.
Trump is set to hold his first formal cabinet meeting on Wednesday, where Leavitt said he’ll be discussing the DOGE office’s work.
Musk is expected to be in attendance. It’s unclear if Gleason will be too.
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Jack Newsham contributed to this report.
