WASHINGTON — The White House says billionaire Elon Musk is not the administrator of the U.S. DOGE Service team that is sweeping through federal agencies, but is rather a senior adviser to President Donald Trump.

Musk's exact role could be key in the legal fight over DOGE's access to government data as the Trump administration moves to lay off thousands of federal workers. Defining him as an adviser rather that the person in charge of day-to-day operations at the so-called Department of Government Efficiency could help the administration beat a lawsuit arguing Musk has too much power for someone who isn't elected or Senate-confirmed.

The declaration was filed Monday as the Trump administration fends off the lawsuit from several Democratic states that want to block Musk and the DOGE team from accessing government systems. The litigants say Musk is wielding "virtually unchecked power" in violation of the Constitution.

The Trump administration, on the other hand, says Musk has "no actual authority to make government decisions himself," Joshua Fisher, director of the White House Office of Administration, said in court papers. The documents do not name the administrator of DOGE, whose work Musk has championed in posts on his social-media platform X and in a public appearance at the White House.

The DOGE team has roamed from agency to agency, tapping into computer systems, digging into budgets and searching for waste, fraud and abuse, while lawsuits pile up claiming Trump and DOGE are violating the law. At least two are targeting Musk himself.

U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan seemed skeptical in a hearing Monday when Justice Department lawyers asserted that Musk has no formal authority.

"I think you stretch too far. I disagree with you there," Chutkan said.