US President Donald Trump has signed an executive order to create a new postion for the government’s chief design officer and is appointing Airbnb co-founder Joe Gebbia to fill the position, according to reports.
Mr Gebbia would play a key role in redesigning government forms and processes through a new National Design Studio at the White House.
His mission as the nation’s first chief design officer will be to “prioritise improving websites and physical sites that have a major impact on Americans’ everyday lives”, according to the text of the executive order released by the White House.
That mandate could include income tax filings, Social Security applications, Medicare enrolment, immigration services, and other high-volume government services.
Mr Gebbia, 44, a holdover from Tesla chief executive Elon Musk’s largely dismantled Department of Government Efficiency, has already led an effort to overhaul the government’s cumbersome retirement process.
Until recently, the Office of Personnel Management calculated federal employees’ retirement benefits primarily using papers stored in an abandoned limestone mine in Pennsylvania.
Earlier in 2025, Mr Trump closed an Obama-era organization called 18F, which worked on digital design initiatives across the federal government.
The new committee will report directly to the White House chief of staff and has a July 4, 2026, deadline to deliver initial results.
