Nevada State Treasurer candidate Drew Johnson has repeatedly told voters he was recruited by the Trump White House to advise the federal efficiency initiative—a claim his opponent has repeatedly pressed him to substantiate.
Johnson, a Republican policy analyst, is running against retired commodity trader Jeff Carter in the June 9, 2026 Republican primary.
Carter has continued to challenge Johnson’s claims on his campaign website, ShadyDrew.com, citing a lack of supporting evidence in widely used public sources.
“Fake DOGE claim,” the ShadyDrew.com website reads. “Shady Drew is at it again: he was never part of DOGE. Nothing about DOGE on Shady Drew’s Website, Nothing about DOGE on GOOGLE, Nothing about DOGE on Wikipedia.”
Despite mounting questions ahead of the election, Johnson has not provided proof that he worked with the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
Silver State Times found no public records confirming Johnson’s involvement with DOGE and received no verification after requesting details from his campaign.
When contacted by phone by Silver State Times, Johnson said, “I’ll look at it and either I’ll respond or have my campaign respond.”
“I’m happy to send that,” Johnson said.
Johnson later responded to Silver State Times after deadline had passed. Questions posed to Johnson included whether he was formally part of DOGE, his role and timeline, any White House or DOGE contact who could verify his involvement or documentation to substantiate his claims.
Johnson answered some of those questions in the statement his spokesman provided below.
“In February and March of 2025, Drew Johnson participated in several calls with members of the Executive Office of the President’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) team, where he provided guidance on identifying and exposing government waste and protecting taxpayer dollars,” Johnson’s campaign said.
“During those discussions, Drew shared his experience uncovering waste, fraud, and abuse within U.S. taxpayer-funded international institutions, including the United Nations and the World Health Organization. Through his work as a journalist and policy analyst, he has documented patterns of wasteful spending and lack of transparency at the highest levels.”
“At the state level, Drew also served on the board of DOGE Nevada and as its Director of Research, where he authored investigative reports, led public records efforts, and helped guide the organization’s work exposing waste in Nevada.”
“Drew’s involvement in these efforts reflects a long track record of holding government accountable. He has served as a policy analyst for the National Taxpayers Union, produced federal and state spending reports for Citizens Against Government Waste, and spent eight years as a senior fellow at the Taxpayers Protection Alliance.”
“He is also a nationally recognized voice on government accountability, having written the ‘Golden Hammer’ column for The Washington Times, contributed regularly to Newsmax, and hosted a nationally syndicated segment highlighting wasteful government spending. He is the founder of the Beacon Center of Tennessee, where he worked directly with lawmakers to eliminate waste and improve transparency.”
Carter’s response to Johnson’s statement was immediate.
“This statement from their campaign is not proof,” Carter said. “Phone calls are not admissible in a court of law. Drew’s first tweet was about Nevada DOGE, a 501(c)(3), not affiliated with any state or federal government agency. It was designed to raise money and obfuscate the DOGE name, and it never accomplished anything.”
“Talented members were assigned to teams inside the federal government. Drew should provide proof that he was assigned to an agency or team to say he was a part of DOGE. They cannot even say the phone call was a part of DOGE’s efforts. In all of Drew’s campaign announcements, he never mentions that he was a part of DOGE. It’s further proof that he is misrepresenting his entire resume to Nevadans. President Donald J. Trump and his DOGE team were embedded in agencies. They worked extremely long hours to save US taxpayers billions of dollars.”
“Drew, by falsely claiming he was a member of this elite team is devaluing the hard work that they did on behalf of the American taxpayer. Nevadans deserve better. They deserve extreme honesty and transparency from a person who is going to manage a $12 billion dollar portfolio. Not lies. I have a 40 year pro finance background with a track record of creating value and success everywhere I have been. My opponent has none, and is now lying about it.”
Minutes after initially being contacted by Silver State Times, Johnson posted on X about his role with DOGE Nevada.
“I’m proud of serving on the board of @DOGENEVADA & helping @1brandondavis in the fight to protect Nevadans’ tax dollars! I’ll bring a DOGE mentality to the Treasurer’s Office. ICYMI, I authored a report exposing outrageous ways NV wastes YOUR money on art,” Johnson said in the post.
Unlike the federal DOGE, which was created by Trump to reduce federal spending and address waste, fraud, and abuse, DOGE Nevada is a nonprofit organization that does not have any formal authority or jurisdiction over the state of Nevada.
Johnson has repeatedly invoked the federal DOGE effort during campaign events, often describing interactions with the White House and senior officials.
“I did some work for DOGE and then the White House said ‘Drew we need you in Nevada,’” Johnson told one audience.
In another appearance, he said the White House recruited him for both the federal DOGE and to run as treasurer.
“The White House said, we need your advice with DOGE,” Johnson said. “And I was damn proud to go help them with that as well. And after that ended, they said, ‘with your background, with your experience, we can’t think of anybody better to be Treasurer of Nevada.’”
He repeated that claim in front of other audiences as well.
“White House called me and said, ‘we’d like for you to advise DOGE,’ very proud to do that. I was encouraged to run for treasuer after that,” Johnson said in another appearance.
And in a separate speech he said Trump himself asked him to join the federal DOGE effort.
“President Trump asked me to advise DOGE and that’s something I was very very proud of,” Johnson said at an event. “From that this opportunity opened up to run for treasurer.”
Johnson has authored numerous editorials published in outlets such as Newsmax, the Reno Gazette Journal, and smaller community publications including the West Haven Voice in Connecticut and the Lockport Journal in New York.
He previously lost a 2024 congressional race in Nevada’s 3rd District and a 2022 election for Clark County Commission.
Drew Johnson speaking at a Southern Hills Republican Women event, where
he said he was personally recruited by President Donald Trump to advise the
federal DOGE effort. (YouTube / Silver State Times)
