(Luis Cornelio, Headline USA) White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller on Thursday turned a CNN interview on Tuesday into a civics lecture, humorously educating host Brianna Keilar on who runs President Donald Trump’s DOGE.
Miller’s remarks came in response to leftist cynicism over a court filing in which the Trump administration stated that tech mogul Elon Musk is neither an employee nor the administrator of DOGE.
Democrats have attempted, albeit unsuccessfully, to thwart Musk’s involvement in DOGE, but Trump has made it clear that Musk serves as a special advisor. That basic fact appeared lost on Keilar.
“Who is in charge of DOGE?” she asked.
“The president of the United States,” Miller replied with a noticeable smile.
“He’s the administrator of DOGE?” Keilar pressed, prompting Miller to take her on a walk down memory lane about DOGE’s beginnings.
“No,” he shot back. “DOGE is what was formerly U.S. Digital Service, is an agency of the federal government that reports to the Executive Office of President, which reports to the president of the United States.”
He continued, “The way Article II works is that: the president wins an election, and then he appoints staff—including myself, including [National Security Advisor] Mike Waltz, including [White House Chief of Staff] Susie Wiles, including Elon Musk—and those staff report to him.”
Keilar, seemingly frustrated, interjected, “Okay, well aware.” She then played a clip of Musk inside the Oval Office with Trump, referring to DOGE as “our” task force. Keilar seemingly attempted to suggest that Musk was, in fact, running it.
“Did you hear him there? ‘We post OUR actions. All of OUR actions are maximally transparent.’ Does Elon Musk know he’s not in charge of DOGE?” Keilar asked.
Miller immediately shot back: “Again, the president runs the government, the president appoints advisors, including Elon, including myself, including all the other staff at the White House and then those staff in turn, execute the president’s commands and directions to all agencies of the federal government. This is how democracy works, something that we treasure in America.”
Miller’s response countered Democrat claims that Musk is somehow plotting a hostile takeover of the federal government, though these claims conveniently ignore that Musk is simply following Trump’s orders.
CNN viewers wouldn’t know this if they relied on Keilar.
