Former Nashville healthcare technology executive named as DOGE’s acting administrator

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WSMV/AP) – A former Nashville healthcare tech chief product officer was named as the Department of Government Efficiency’s (DOGE) acting administrator.

On Tuesday afternoon, the White House identified Amy Gleason as the acting leader of DOGE. DOGE has been pushing agencies to fire employees, cancel contracts, and make other budget cuts, the Associated Press said.

AP said while DOGE cuts have been championed by Elon Musk and his associates, the White House said Musk is overseeing the effort as a senior advisor to President Donald Trump and is not a DOGE employee.

In January, Trump signed an executive order that called for the appointment of an administrator to report to the White House.

Gleason worked in Nashville as Chief Product Officer for two healthcare startups from 2021-2024.

A government lawyer on Monday told a judge he didn’t know who the person previously running DOGE was and White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt declined to identify the person in a press briefing on Tuesday.

From 2018 through 2021, Gleason, 53, has worked in the United States Digital Service, the agency that was renamed to DOGE, according to her LinkedIn profile.

Following her role in the White House, according to her LinkedIn, Gleason worked in Nashville as Chief Product Officer for two healthcare startups, Main Street Health and Russell Street Ventures from November 2021 to December 2024.

Both companies were founded by Brad Smith, a healthcare entrepreneur, who worked in the first Trump administration. He has had several key healthcare roles and also has been working on the DOGE initiative, AP said.

Russell Street Ventures’ website has recently been deleted, but the company has called itself “an innovative healthcare firm focused on launching and scaling companies that serve some of the nation’s most vulnerable and underserved patient populations.”

Main Street Health says it works with primary care physicians in rural areas to provide clinics “with the data and opportunities they need to succeed in value-based care.”

The company’s website deleted Gleason’s biography. But an archived version shows that it said she “spearheaded technology efforts for the federal COVID-19 response” and worked on projects with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

In January, Gleason returned to the White House after Trump took office.

In addition to her return to the White House, the AP reported that Gleason also runs a consulting firm, Gleason Strategies.

On Tuesday, the day she was announced as the acting administrator, more than 20 members of the former digital service resigned with a letter criticizing Musk for “working to dismantle critical public service.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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