White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt defended Musk's latest mass email but said agency heads have final say on if workers should respond

More than a million federal employees complied with Elon Musk’s directive to list five accomplishments in the past week, according to the White House. “I can announce that we had more than one million workers who have chosen to participate in this very simple task of again sending five bullet points to your direct supervisor

DOGE co-lead Elon Musk demanded federal employees comply with a demand within 48 hours earlier this week, or risk being let go.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt, in a Tuesday interview with Fox News, reiterated the "special government employee" title and said "Elon Musk has been tasked with overseeing DOGE on ...

Karoline Leavitt was forced to clarify after the director of the Office of Administration said the billionaire was not an employee of DOGE.

Gleason is a healthcare technology executive who worked under Presidents Trump and Biden. The White House says Elon Musk still oversees the Department of Government Efficiency.

MAGA supporters are defending the appearance of unelected Elon Musk at Donald Trump 's first Cabinet meeting by likening his status to first lady Jill Biden, who also sat in with the president. Trump was met with laughter and applause Wednesday when he asked Cabinet members: "Is anybody unhappy with Elon? If you are, we'll throw him out of here."

The White House says Elon Musk is not in charge of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) but serves as a senior adviser to President Trump.