The Times identified Anonymous as only “a senior official in the Trump administration.” The unnamed official, whose identity is known to the senior leadership of the Times editorial page department but not to their counterparts in the news department or to reporters who cover the White House, has managed to remain anonymous for more than a year in spite of frenzied efforts to uncover the person’s identity. It is unclear whether the person still works in government.

Ms. Coates’s allies dispute the notion that she is the unnamed author, who wrote that many Trump officials, including the author, “are working diligently from within to frustrate parts of his agenda and his worst inclinations.” Mr. Trump and his senior advisers were enraged by the essay and have made efforts to identify who wrote it.

A senior administration official who declined to be named said that the White House “does not put any stock in the suggestion” that Ms. Coates was the author of the book and the Times opinion essay. The official said her transfer had been in the works for several weeks.

But the accusations against her had become a significant distraction. Last week, as rumors circulated about her job status, Ms. Coates was scheduled to appear on a panel at the conservative Hudson Institute. She never showed up, providing no advance explanation.

Earlier this month, the literary agents for Anonymous issued a statement vehemently denying that Ms. Coates, an art historian who had worked with them on her 2016 book about art and democracy, was the author in question.