As Elon Musk has rampaged around the federal government for four weeks, canceling contracts and dismantling whole departments, he’s claimed all the actions of his Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) were “maximally transparent.”

Yet there’s been nothing transparent about the details of Musk’s actual job in the administration, which has been a murky mystery that’s only deepened of late.

For some time after Trump was sworn in, it was unclear whether Musk even was officially working for the government. Two weeks in, the administration confirmed he was indeed a “special government employee,” but declined to give further details.

Late Monday, White House aide Joshua Fisher finally provided an answer of sorts. As part of court proceedings in a lawsuit, Fisher made a declaration about Musk’s role under penalty of perjury — though that answer was rather curious.

Fisher revealed that Musk is a White House senior adviser to the president with “no greater authority than other senior White House advisers.” That means, he continued, that “Musk has no actual or formal authority to make government decisions himself.” Musk can only “advise the President and communicate the President’s directives.”

But........

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