Washington DC - The White House has clarified Elon Musk's formal role in the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) as a judge is set to hand down a critical ruling.

Musk is not an official employee of DOGE and has "no formal authority to make government decisions," a White House court filing states.

The world's richest man is widely seen as the de-facto head of DOGE, created by President Donald Trump, which has undertaken radical cuts to the US civil service and seen thousands of workers lose their jobs.

According to a filing issued on Monday by Joshua Fisher, director of the Office of Administration, Musk "is an employee of the White House... as a non-career Special Government Employee" and a "Senior Advisor to the President."

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"Like other senior White House advisors, Mr. Musk has no actual or formal authority to make government decisions himself. Mr. Musk can only advise the President and communicate the President's directives," Fisher said.

"Mr. Musk is an employee of the White House Office. He is not an employee of the U.S. DOGE Service or U.S. DOGE Service Temporary Organization. Mr. Musk is not the Temporary Administrator."

The White House's clarification came less than 24 hours before US District Judge Tanya Chutkan was set to issue a ruling in Washington DC on protecting critical government information systems from DOGE.

An emergency request was issued by 13 Democratic state attorneys general looking to stop Musk and DOGE from being able to access government computer systems and fire thousands of employees.

The legal requests were made on the basis that Musk's actions damaged the states' ability to carry out their educational responsibilities and operate important programs.

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"The things I’m hearing are troubling indeed, but I have to have a record and findings of fact before I issue something," Judge Chutkan said.

According to Chutkan, it is doubtful the lawsuit will hold and a temporary restraining order will be issued. But if the states prevail, she will restore the programs that have been cut.