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Elon Musk’s Revenge Attack Demolition Crew

Elon Musk’s Demolition Crew

On President Donald Trump’s authority alone, Elon Musk, the world’s richest man, has been unleashed on federal agencies. Employees from Musk’s companies and those of his allies, as well as young staffers he’s recruited, are wresting authority from career workers and commandeering computer systems.

While some have been public about their involvement, others have attempted to keep their roles secret, scrubbing LinkedIn pages and other sources of data. With little information from the White House, ProPublica is attempting to document who is involved and what they are doing.

Musk’s team, known as the Department of Government Efficiency, has already thrown entire swaths of the federal government and its programs into disarray — programs that serve millions of Americans.

Musk himself has made no secret of his intentions, saying that DOGE is a “wood chipper for bureaucracy” and that he is “deleting” agencies.

A White House spokesperson wrote, “Those leading this mission with Elon Musk are doing so in full compliance with federal law, appropriate security clearances, and as employees of the relevant agencies, not as outside advisors or entities.” None of the people identified responded to requests for comment.

We are still reporting. Do you have information about any of the people listed below? Do you know of any other Musk associates who have entered the federal government? You can reach our tip line on Signal at 917-512-0201. Please be as specific, detailed and clear as you can.

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Stephen Duarte, 32

Expert

Connected to: Office of Personnel Management

Musk link: SpaceX

Duarte worked until recently as a human resources specialist at SpaceX, his LinkedIn page said. He is listed as an “expert” at OPM — a title similarly used to classify a group of young software engineers brought in by Musk to analyze vast quantities of data at various agencies. Duarte appears to have worked in the same HR division as one of DOGE’s most senior officials, Brian Bjelde. He is part of a group of at least four HR experts brought in from SpaceX.

Added Feb. 20, 2025

Stephen Ehikian, 43

Acting Administrator

Connected to: General Services Administration

Musk link: Spouse worked at X, former AI startup founder

Ehikian previously worked in the Silicon Valley technology industry, including spending time at Salesforce and founding an AI startup named Airkit.ai. He oversees the GSA’s expansive real estate portfolio, which includes more than $100 billion in federal contracts. A GSA press release said Ehikian will “work closely with the DOGE team.”

Added Feb. 20, 2025

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Justin Fulcher, 32

Adviser

Connected to: Department of Veterans Affairs

Fulcher is a former entrepreneur currently acting as an adviser at the Department of Veterans Affairs. He founded the health care startup RingMD, which sells a telemedicine platform. The company’s platform was used by several foreign governments to assist with patient care early in the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a presentation posted online. Fulcher has been provided wide access to the department’s HR systems, said a person familiar with the matter.

Added Feb. 20, 2025

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Christina Hanna, 39

Expert

Connected to: Office of Personnel Management

Musk link: SpaceX

Hanna worked until recently as a senior manager for human resources at SpaceX, her LinkedIn page said. She is listed as an “expert” at OPM.

Added Feb. 20, 2025

Greg Hogan, 42

Senior adviser to the director

Connected to: Office of Personnel Management

Musk link: Recently worked for AI company Comma.ai, which is backed by Musk-aligned venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz

Hogan’s name came to light as part of a lawsuit filed by a group of federal workers over OPM’s creation of a new email system that they claim is insecure and that can directly message employees across government. OPM has moved to dismiss the lawsuit. Hogan leads the agency’s work concerning technology strategy and cybersecurity, media reports say. An agency spokesperson said Hogan was serving as its chief information officer. He is at least the third new government CIO with ties to Musk.

Added Feb. 20, 2025

Jeremy Lewin, 28

Agency Lead

Connected to: U.S. Agency for International Development, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, State Department

Lewin is a Harvard-trained lawyer who is one of a handful of agency leads at DOGE, a more senior role inside the initiative. Before DOGE, he worked at the white-shoe law firm Munger Tolles and Olson. As a law student, he worked closely with prominent legal scholar and professor Laurence Tribe.

Added Feb. 20, 2025

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Kathryn Armstrong Loving, 44

Federal Detailee

Connected to: Environmental Protection Agency

Musk link: Sibling of crypto entrepreneur with business ties to Musk’s Tesla

Loving is an “entrepreneurial scientist” with experience at multiple biotechnology firms. According to a profile page for the startup incubator Y Combinator, she’s spent more than a decade building software for biotech and pharma companies. Loving’s membership on the DOGE team was first reported by E&E News, which found she was part of Musk’s team assigned to the EPA, looking for contracts that counter Trump’s agenda. Loving is the sister of Brian Armstrong, who leads Coinbase, a firm with documented financial links to Musk companies.

Added Feb. 20, 2025

Bryanne-Michelle Mlodzianowski, 40

Expert

Connected to: Office of Personnel Management

Musk link: SpaceX

Mlodzianowski worked until recently as human resources director at SpaceX, her LinkedIn page said. She is listed as an “expert” at OPM.

Added Feb. 20, 2025

Brooks Morgan, 39

Connected to: Department of Education

Morgan is a technology entrepreneur from Austin, Texas, who has been seen at the Department of Education. His involvement in DOGE was first reported by The New York Times. Until recently, he was the CEO of an education-focused startup named Podium Education, which produces an online training program for tech skills, and worked at a venture capital firm.

Added Feb. 20, 2025

Noah Peters, 39

Senior adviser

Connected to: Office of Personnel Management, Executive Office of the President

Peters is an attorney with reported ties to The Heritage Foundation, the conservative think tank that crafted the Project 2025 policy plan. According to two internal government directories reviewed by ProPublica, Peters has an Executive Office of the President DOGE email address and is also listed as a senior adviser to the director at OPM. Peters’ name came to light shortly after the inauguration when he was tied to the creation of a governmentwide memo regarding the termination of work-from-home policies. Peters previously represented Jared Taylor, a self-described “white advocate” and “race realist,” in a lawsuit concerning alleged censorship on Twitter, now called X.

Added Feb. 20, 2025

Austin Raynor, 36

Senior adviser, lawyer

Connected to: Executive Office of the President, Office of Personnel Management

Raynor is an experienced lawyer with DOGE who previously clerked for Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas. He was a member of the conservative Federalist Society and worked on the Virginia Law Review. He has publicly declared that Trump has the legal authority to challenge the concept of birthright citizenship. In agency directories, Raynor is listed as a senior adviser to the director of OPM.

Added Feb. 20, 2025

Chris Young, 36

Connected to: Executive Office of the President, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau

Musk link: Republican political adviser hired by Musk during 2024 election cycle

Young’s association with DOGE came to light after a union group representing workers of the shuttered CFPB noticed him in an internal staff directory. Young is a former lobbyist for the pharmaceutical industry and past staffer for Louisiana Republican Gov. Bobby Jindal. Musk reportedly hired Young in 2024 to help establish a grassroots political organization focused on voter turnout. A directory reviewed by ProPublica showed he has a DOGE Executive Office of the President email address.

Added Feb. 20, 2025

Jennifer Balajadia, 36

Connected to: Executive Office of the President

Musk link: Worked at The Boring Company

Balajadia, who also goes by “Jehn,” is an official member of the DOGE team, according to federal records viewed by ProPublica. She worked as an operations coordinator at The Boring Company for seven years, according to her LinkedIn page. Recent media reports have described her as Musk’s assistant and close confidant, traveling with him and assisting with scheduling and daily tasks.

Added Feb. 11, 2025

Alexandra T. Beynon, 36

Connected to: Executive Office of the President

Beynon is an official member of the DOGE team, according to federal records viewed by ProPublica and media reports. According to her LinkedIn page, she most recently worked as the head of engineering at her husband’s startup, Mindbloom, which provides “guided at-home ketamine therapy.” She previously worked as a software developer at investment banking company Goldman Sachs. When reached by ProPublica and asked about her involvement in the new administration and DOGE, she said, “I have no idea what you are talking about.” She did not respond to additional requests for comment.

Added Feb. 11, 2025

Nicole Hollander, 42

Connected to: General Services Administration

Musk link: Worked at X

Hollander is working at the GSA. She most recently worked at X, where she handled the company’s real estate. She is married to longtime Musk lieutenant Steve Davis, according to media reports.

Added Feb. 11, 2025

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Kendall M. Lindemann, 24

Connected to: Executive Office of the President

Lindemann is an official member of the DOGE team, according to federal records viewed by ProPublica. According to her LinkedIn page, she most recently worked as an associate at Russell Street Ventures, a health care firm founded by fellow DOGE associate Brad Smith. She also previously worked as a business analyst at McKinsey & Company.

Added Feb. 11, 2025

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Adam Ramada, 35

Connected to: Executive Office of the President

Musk link: Previously part of an investment firm with links to a SpaceX alumnus

Ramada is an official member of the DOGE team, according to federal records viewed by ProPublica. He previously worked for Spring Tide Capital, a venture capital company. Spring Tide Capital previously invested in Impulse Space, an aerospace company founded in 2021 by Tom Mueller, a founding member of SpaceX. Ramada has reportedly appeared at the Energy Department and General Services Administration, according to E&E News.

Added Feb. 11, 2025

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Ryan Riedel, 37

Chief Information Officer

Connected to: Department of Energy

Musk link: Worked as SpaceX network security engineer

Riedel emerged in early February as the new chief information officer at the Department of Energy. His position was confirmed in a LinkedIn post by the former CIO, Ann Dunkin, who wrote, “Handing the keys over to you, virtually.” Riedel, who now lists himself online as the department’s CIO, has worked at SpaceX since 2020. He previously served in the U.S. Army Cyber Command.

Added Feb. 11, 2025

Kyle Schutt, 37

Connected to: General Services Administration

Schutt is a DOGE software engineer working at the GSA. He was previously the chief technology officer at Revv, an online fundraising platform that’s a frequent vendor for the Republican Party. According to his recently deleted LinkedIn profile, Schutt led the development and launch of WinRed, the GOP’s major online fundraising platform, which helped raise $1.8 billion for Republicans in the 2024 election cycle.

Added Feb. 11, 2025

Ethan Shaotran, 22

Connected to: General Services Administration

Musk link: Participated in a hackathon organized by Musk’s artificial intelligence company xAI

Shaotran is part of the DOGE team. He recently attended Harvard University and studied computer science. He founded Spark, a scheduling assistant startup, for which he said he received a $100,000 grant from OpenAI. He was a member of a team that was a finalist in a hackathon organized by xAI, Musk’s artificial intelligence company. Shaotran’s name first came to light in an article by Wired magazine about a group of young software engineers recruited by Musk to analyze internal government data and technology programs.

Added Feb. 11, 2025

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Jordan M. Wick, 28

Connected to: Executive Office of the President

Wick is an official member of the DOGE team, according to federal records viewed by ProPublica. According to his personal website, which has recently been taken offline, he graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and recently worked at autonomous car company Waymo as a software engineer. Before joining the government, Wick was listed as the co-founder of an e-commerce startup named Intercept, which is affiliated with the California-based tech incubator Y Combinator. The incubator has featured speaker events with Musk and other AI leaders.

Added Feb. 11, 2025

Jacob Altik, 32

Lawyer

Connected to: Executive Office of the President

Altik is a 2021 graduate of the University of Michigan Law School. He clerked for D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Neomi Rao, a Trump appointee known for critiquing the administrative state. For the last year and a half, he worked as a corporate litigation associate at Weil, where he co-authored a detailed legal analysis on administrative law jurisprudence at the Supreme Court. Last year, he was selected to begin a clerkship for Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch in the 2025 term, which is set to begin this summer.

Added Feb. 7, 2025

James Burnham, 41

General Counsel

Connected to: Executive Office of the President

Burnham is a former litigation partner at Jones Day and a high-ranking Justice Department and White House official from the first Trump administration. The New York Times first reported his involvement with DOGE as a lawyer in January. His title at DOGE is listed internally as general counsel, according to records reviewed by ProPublica. Burnham previously served as a clerk to Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch. On a website for one of his past companies, Burnham is described as having played a “central role” in the selection and confirmation processes for Gorsuch, Justice Brett Kavanaugh and then-Judge Amy Coney Barrett.

Added Feb. 7, 2025

Keenan D. Kmiec, 45

Lawyer

Connected to: Executive Office of the President

Keenan Kmiec’s career veered from elite law to, more recently, crypto. After clerking for then-Judge Samuel Alito on a federal circuit court, he clerked on the Supreme Court for Chief Justice John Roberts in the 2006-2007 term, according to his LinkedIn. He did a stint at a corporate law firm and had his own firm focused on insider-trading litigation. In 2021, Kmiec began working for a Swiss foundation that promotes a blockchain called Tezos, according to his LinkedIn. He then served for nine months as CEO of a now-defunct startup called InterPop, which described itself as “forging the future of digital fandom with comic, game, and collectible NFTs minted responsibly on the Tezos blockchain.”

Added Feb. 7, 2025

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Anthony Armstrong, 57

Senior Adviser to the Director

Connected to: Office of Personnel Management

Musk link: Worked on Musk’s purchase of Twitter

Armstrong is a technology banker at Morgan Stanley who worked on Musk’s $44 billion acquisition of Twitter — since rebranded as X — in 2022. He has been given an influential role at OPM, which handles personnel issues across the federal government. Since Trump took office, OPM has spearheaded the new administration’s efforts to dramatically reduce the federal workforce and roll back telework and remote work policies.

Added Feb. 6, 2025

Riccardo Biasini, 39

Senior Adviser to the Director

Connected to: Office of Personnel Management

Musk link: Former engineer at Tesla, executive at the Boring Company

Biasini is an engineer and former executive who has worked at two of Musk’s companies, the Boring Company and Tesla. He has also taken a high-ranking role at OPM. Biasini was listed as the contact person for the government-wide email system put in place by the Trump administration and used to send messages directly from OPM to millions of federal workers across the government, according to a recent court filing.

Added Feb. 6, 2025

Brian Bjelde, 44

Senior Adviser

Connected to: Office of Personnel Management

Musk link: Vice president of people operations at SpaceX

Bjelde is a longtime SpaceX employee who’s spent more than 20 years at the company, according to his LinkedIn profile, where he’s had a variety of jobs, including as managing director of the “food services group.” He previously worked for NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. He’s been referred to in press reports as a “top DOGE Lieutenant,” working at OPM to slash head count. CNN previously revealed that Bjelde had informed OPM staff of a plan to cut 70% of the agency’s workforce. The New York Times reported that Bjelde helped Musk cut staff at Twitter following its takeover.

Added Feb. 6, 2025

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Akash Bobba, 21

Senior Adviser to the Director

Connected to: Office of Personnel Management

Bobba was named by Wired magazine as part of a team of six young engineers picked by Musk for his DOGE team. A recent graduate of the University of California, Berkeley, Bobba worked as an intern at Meta, the social media company, and at Palantir, the software and data analytics firm that is a major defense contractor. Bobba is listed in personnel records as an “expert” at OPM, where he has reportedly been able to access internal databases. He graduated from high school in 2021; in his graduation speech, featured in the Spotlight New Jersey newspaper, he told his fellow graduates that, in life, the “answers we deserve demand discomfort.”

Added Feb. 6, 2025

Nate Cavanaugh, 28

Connected to: General Services Administration

Cavanaugh is an entrepreneur who has founded companies focused on intellectual property management and small-business finance. He has been interviewing staffers at the GSA as part of the DOGE team, according to those who have spoken with him. GSA procures technology tools, real estate, and other services for federal government agencies. In published interviews, Cavanaugh has expressed an admiration for tech luminaries, including Peter Thiel, Elon Musk, and Mark Zuckerberg, and has said he is “very interested in crypto.”

Added Feb. 6, 2025

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Edward Coristine, 19

Expert

Connected to: Office of Personnel Management

Musk link: Interned at Neuralink

Coristine is a recent undergraduate student at Northeastern University and part of the group of young DOGE staffers detailed to OPM, the government’s human resources office. Wired reported that Coristine interned at Neuralink, Musk’s brain-computer interface company. Friends of Coristine told Northeastern University’s independent student newspaper that Musk was one of Coristine’s idols and that while he finished the fall 2024 semester, he did not return to school for the spring term. According to CBS News, Coristine has been seeking access to the Small Business Administration’s internal records on behalf of DOGE.

Added Feb. 6, 2025

Steve Davis, 45

Connected to: Executive Office of the President

Musk link: Longtime Musk lieutenant, CEO of the Boring Company

Davis has been a senior executive and close associate of Musk’s for over two decades, working with him at SpaceX, X and the Boring Company. He was one of the first people to be associated with the DOGE effort last year. The New York Times reported he was on early calls with Musk as they conceived of the DOGE effort and explored ways to cut federal programs. Bloomberg reported that Davis has helped recruit staffers for DOGE.

Added Feb. 6, 2025

Marko Elez, 25

Connected to: Treasury Department

Musk link: Worked as an engineer at X and SpaceX

Elez works at the Treasury Department, a staffer at the office of the Secretary of Treasury confirmed in a call with a ProPublica reporter. Wired reported Feb. 4 that Elez, who graduated from Rutgers in 2021 and studied computer science, has gained access to the highly sensitive payment systems of the U.S. Treasury Department. According to Elez’s LinkedIn bio, which was recently deleted, he was most recently an engineer at X in New York for roughly a year and an engineer at SpaceX in the Los Angeles area for around three years before that. Elez reportedly resigned Feb. 6 after The Wall Street Journal reported that he has links to a social media account that posted racist comments online. Musk said publicly he planned to rehire the engineer, saying that “to err is human, to forgive divine.”

Added Feb. 6, 2025

Luke Farritor, 23

Executive Engineer in the Office of the Secretary

Connected to: Department of Health and Human Services

Musk link: Former SpaceX intern

Farritor works as an executive engineer at the HHS, according to agency data. He studied computer science at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and interned at SpaceX, working on its Starlink Wi-Fi team and Starship launchpad software, according to his Linkedin profile. In March 2024, he received a Thiel fellowship, a two-year program founded by billionaire tech entrepreneur Peter Thiel that awards a $100,000 startup grant to students who drop out of college.

Added Feb. 6, 2025

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Stephanie Holmes, 43

Human Resources

Connected to: Executive Office of the President

Holmes is running human resources at DOGE, according to government workers who have been in meetings with her. A former lawyer with Jones Day, a firm that frequently represents Trump, she was previously the chief people officer at Oklo, a nuclear energy company chaired by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman. She also ran her own HR consulting firm, BrighterSideHR, which advised companies to pursue “non-woke” approaches to diversity and inclusion in the workplace.

Added Feb. 6, 2025

Gautier “Cole” Killian, 24

Federal Detailee

Connected to: Environmental Protection Agency

Killian works at the EPA, according to agency data. His position is a federal detail, which typically allows government employees to transfer between agencies for temporary roles. He studied math and computer science at McGill University, where he conducted blockchain-related research. He recently worked as an engineer at Jump Trading, an algorithmic financial trading company, and is a member of the DOGE team, according to recent media reports.

Added Feb. 6, 2025

Gavin Kliger, 25

Senior Adviser to the Director

Connected to: U.S. Agency for International Development, Office of Personnel Management

Kliger is a senior adviser at OPM, according to his LinkedIn profile. He spent nearly five years as a software engineer at Databricks, a cloud-based AI company. He is widely reported to be part of Musk’s DOGE team. On his personal Substack, he wrote an essay titled “Why I gave up a seven-figure salary to save America,” according to press reports, and described failed U.S. attorney general nominee Matt Gaetz, who withdrew from Congress amid allegations of sexual misconduct, as a “victim” of the deep state. On Feb. 3, workers at USAID received an email announcing that their Washington offices would be closed that day. Replies to the email were directed to Kliger at a USAID email address.

Added Feb. 6, 2025

Tom Krause, 47

Expert

Connected to: Treasury Department

Krause is a part of DOGE’s efforts to gain access to sensitive federal payment systems as part of Musk’s larger effort to root out spending perceived as wasteful. According to the Treasury Department, Krause leads a team of people who have been granted “read-only” access to the code for the agency’s Fiscal Service payment system, which processes payments for major programs such as Social Security and Medicare. The department has clarified he is designated as a “special government employee.” The New York Times reported that Krause is affiliated with Musk’s DOGE team.

Added Feb. 6, 2025

Katie Miller, 33

Spokesperson

Connected to: Executive Office of the President

In December, during the transition, Trump named Miller, who served in the first administration as a press secretary to Vice President Mike Pence, as one of the first members of DOGE. She is the wife of White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller. After reports that DOGE personnel accessed internal USAID data, Katie Miller defended the group, saying that “no classified material was accessed without proper security clearances.”

Added Feb. 6, 2025

Justin Monroe, 36

Adviser

Connected to: FBI

Musk link: Senior director for security at SpaceX

Monroe is working as an adviser within the office of the director of the FBI, according to three people familiar with the matter. NBC News previously reported that an unnamed SpaceX employee has been placed in the FBI director’s office but said it could not confirm the individual’s identity. Monroe is a seasoned information security professional who previously served in the U.S. Navy as an information warfare officer.

Added Feb. 6, 2025

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Nikhil Rajpal, 30

Expert

Connected to: Office of Personnel Management

Musk link: Former Twitter employee

Rajpal is listed as an “expert” now working for OPM. An archived version of his personal website from 2018 lists his job title as an engineer at Twitter. Rajpal has extensive access to sensitive personnel data used by OPM, according to a source familiar with his role. Wired reported Feb. 5 that Rajpal also sought and was later granted access to data at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Wired magazine reported that he is part of the DOGE team.

Added Feb. 6, 2025

Rachel Riley, 33

Senior Adviser in the Office of the Secretary

Connected to: Department of Health and Human Services

Riley works as a senior adviser at HHS, according to agency data. She previously worked for consultancy firm McKinsey & Company for about eight years, most recently as a partner leading teams advising the company’s state and federal government clients. She has been working closely with Brad Smith, a former health official in Trump’s first administration who ran DOGE during the transition period, according to media reports.

Added Feb. 6, 2025

Michael Russo, 67

Chief Information Officer

Connected to: Social Security Administration

Musk link: Former chief technology officer of Starlink payment processor Shift4 Payments

Russo is a top-ranking technology official at the SSA, which disburses over $1.5 trillion in benefits annually. Russo spent over seven years as an executive and senior adviser with Shift4 Payments, a payment processing company that is both an investor in SpaceX and a payment processor for StarLink, according to his Linkedin. The CEO of Shift4 Payments, Jared Isaacman, has been nominated by Trump to lead NASA and is a friend of Musk’s who has purchased multiple spacewalks with Musk’s SpaceX company. Russo’s office will oversee the SSA’s over $2 billion IT budget.

Added Feb. 6, 2025

Amanda Scales, 34

Chief of Staff

Connected to: Office of Personnel Management

Musk link: Previous employee of xAI

Scales’ name came to light in the first week of the Trump administration as federal employees received a memo putting them on notice that diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility initiatives in the federal government were now barred through an executive order — and to report efforts to conceal them. The message listed Scales as the point of contact for questions. Scales worked in the human resources department at xAI, Musk’s artificial intelligence company, prior to OPM. Before that, she worked in recruiting at ridesharing company Uber. She is reportedly an integral part of OPM’s sweeping efforts to restructure the federal workforce.

Added Feb. 6, 2025

Thomas Shedd, 28

Federal Acquisition Service Deputy Commissioner and Director of Technology Transformation Services

Connected to: General Services Administration

Musk link: Software engineer at Tesla

Shedd’s work at Tesla focused on building software that operates vehicle and battery factories, according to a GSA press release. The office Shedd runs, known as TTS, helps federal agencies improve their tech practices. GSA leaders have told employees they plan to cut 50% of the budget. Shedd has told colleagues he plans to run TTS like a “startup software company,” according to Wired magazine, which will reportedly involve the use of artificial intelligence to analyze government contracts.

Added Feb. 6, 2025

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Brad Smith, 42

Connected to: Executive Office of the President

Smith was among the earliest names associated with DOGE outside of its founder. The New York Times reported he was helping lead the group. He served in a series of health-related policy roles during the first Trump administration, including being part of the board of Operation Warp Speed, the historic COVID-19 vaccine development program. According to The New York Times, which first reported Smith’s involvement in DOGE, he is a friend of Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law.

Added Feb. 6, 2025

Christopher Stanley, 33

Connected to: Executive Office of the President

Musk link: Senior director for security engineering at X and principal engineer at SpaceX

Stanley is an experienced information security professional who has worked at multiple Musk-related companies. He is reportedly an aide to Musk at DOGE, according to The New York Times, and has a role at the White House. He was part of the initial transition team after Musk purchased Twitter in 2022, according to his LinkedIn profile. On inauguration day, Stanley assisted in the release of individuals associated with the Jan. 6 riots, he wrote on X.

Added Feb. 6, 2025

We are still reporting. Do you have information about any of the people listed above? Do you know of any other Musk associates who have entered the federal government? You can reach our tip line on Signal at 917-512-0201. Please be as specific, detailed and clear as you can.

Lead image: Photo illustration by Alex Bandoni/ProPublica. Source images: Kent Nishimura/Bloomberg, Boris Zhitkov, Rudy Sulgan, Sergio Flores, and Smith Collection/Gado/Getty Images.

Headshots: Altik via his previous bio page at Weil, Gotshal and Manges; Balajadia via Patrick T. Fallon/Bloomberg/Getty Images; Beynon via LinkedIn profile; Biasini via Silicon Valley Study Tour; Bjelde via LinkedIn profile; Burnham via King Street Legal, a previous firm; Cavanaugh via LinkedIn profile; Coristine via Instagram profile; Davis via Adam S. Davis/Shutterstock; Duarte via LinkedIn profile; Ehikian via General Services Administration; Elez via GitHub profile; Farritor via video screenshot from the University of Nebraska; Fulcher via X profile; Hogan via his company Comma.ai; Hollander via ULI Learning; Killian via McGill Artificial Intelligence Society; Kliger via his personal website; Kmiec via Justia Lawyers bio page; Krause via LinkedIn profile; Lewin via LinkedIn profile; Lindemann via LinkedIn profile; Loving via LinkedIn profile; Miller via Paul Morigi/Stringer/Getty Images; Mlodzianowski via LinkedIn profile; Monroe via LinkedIn profile; Morgan via his company Podium Education; Peters via LinkedIn profile; Raynor via LinkedIn profile; Riley via LinkedIn profile; Russo via LinkedIn profile; Scales via Human Capitol, a previous employer; Shaotran via Harvard University; Shedd via Instagram profile; Shutt via GitHub profile; Stanley via LinkedIn profile; Young via LinkedIn profile.

The People Carrying Out Musk’s Plans at DOGE

The New York Times identified 45 people within the so-called Department of Government Efficiency, a group formed by Elon Musk that in a short few weeks has radically upended federal agencies. Few members have formal Washington experience. Many are software engineers. All seem to have a clear mandate: Shrink and disrupt the federal government.

DOGE leadership includes a longtime Musk aide, a health care entrepreneur, a digital services employee from President Trump’s first term and Mr. Musk’s political adviser.

  • Has ties to Musk companies

    Elon
    Musk

  • Has ties to Musk companies

    Steve
    Davis

  • Brad
    Smith
  • Amy
    Gleason
  • Chris
    Young
M Ties to Musk companies

DOGE staffers have backgrounds in engineering, law, finance, human resources and real estate, and they have often been assigned to specific agencies.

  • Has ties to Musk companies

    Amanda
    Scales

  • Katie
    Miller
  • Has ties to Musk companies

    Riccardo
    Biasini

  • Has ties to Musk companies

    Anthony
    Armstrong

  • Has ties to Musk companies

    Jennifer
    Balajadia

  • Adam
    Ramada
  • Brooks
    Morgan
  • Has ties to Musk companies

    Tarak
    Makecha

  • Scott
    Langmack
  • Rachel
    Riley
  • Tom
    Krause
  • Has ties to Musk companies

    Marko
    Elez

  • Ryan
    Wunderly
  • Has ties to Musk companies

    Edward
    Coristine

  • Has ties to Musk companies

    Luke
    Farritor

  • Has ties to Musk companies

    Christopher
    Stanley

  • Ethan
    Shaotran
  • Alexandra
    Beynon
  • Gavin
    Kliger
  • Jordan
    Wick
  • Cole
    Killian
  • Greg
    Hogan
  • Has ties to Musk companies

    Ryan
    Riedel

  • Nikhil
    Rajpal
  • Akash
    Bobba
  • James
    Burnham
  • Has ties to Musk companies

    Brian
    Bjelde

  • Kendall
    Lindemann
  • Stephanie
    Holmes
  • Has ties to Musk companies

    Christina
    Hanna

  • Has ties to Musk companies

    Stephen
    Duarte

  • Has ties to Musk companies

    Bryanne-Michelle
    Mlodzianowski

  • Jeremy
    Lewin
  • Jacob
    Altik
  • Noah
    Peters
  • Austin
    Raynor
  • Has ties to Musk companies

    Michael
    Russo

  • Frank
    Schuler
  • Has ties to Musk companies

    Nicole
    Hollander

  • Joanna
    Wischer
  • Has ties to Musk companies

    Justin
    Monroe

DOGE allies are associates of Mr. Musk and others who have helped carry out the team’s work.

  • Has ties to Musk companies

    Michael
    Grimes

  • Russell
    Vought
  • Joe
    Gebbia
  • Scott
    Kupor
  • Has ties to Musk companies

    Thomas
    Shedd

  • Leland
    Dudek
  • Stephen
    Ehikian
  • Has ties to Musk companies

    Antonio
    Gracias

  • Baris
    Akis
Mr. Musk’s team has taken aim at more than 20 agencies while gaining access to sensitive government data systems. But the full extent of its reach or ambitions is unclear.
Much of the team’s operations are opaque, and most of its personnel have not been disclosed by the Trump administration, and it is unclear exactly how large the operation is. Through executive order, President Trump moved the team from the Office of Management and Budget, where it had been housed as the United States Digital Service since its founding, into the White House — a transition that effectively shielded its work from open records laws that could give the public insight into its operations.
The list below includes some of Mr. Musk’s allies; engineers — many of whom are young men — with backgrounds in artificial intelligence; former employees; and others who have helped the operation. Several have recently deleted their social media accounts after their names appeared in news reports.
Do you have information to share about DOGE? The New York Times wants to hear from you.
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DOGE leadership

  • Elon Musk

    Senior adviser to the president
    Mr. Musk launched the DOGE operation prior to Mr. Trump’s inauguration, and he has directed it from an advisory role in the White House. As the world’s richest man, he has earned a reputation for being a ruthless cost cutter — something he’s applying to his new perch in the U.S. government.
    Company involvement: X, SpaceX, Starlink, The Boring Company, xAI, Tesla, Neuralink
  • Steve Davis

    A DOGE leader
    Mr. Davis, a close aide of Mr. Musk’s for two decades, is effectively the leader of DOGE. He has been by Mr. Musk’s side at almost every step over the last three months.
    Agency involvement: Office of Personnel Management, General Services Administration
    Company involvement: X, SpaceX, The Boring Company
  • Brad Smith

    A DOGE leader, health care entrepreneur
    Mr. Smith essentially functioned as a chief of staff for DOGE during the presidential transition and has led the team with Steve Davis. He has operated as a kind of policy handyman for Mr. Trump, taking on a variety of health-related roles.
  • Amy Gleason

    Acting administrator
    During the first Trump administration, Ms. Gleason worked at the United States Digital Service, which was subsumed by DOGE. She later worked with Brad Smith at an investment firm focused on health companies, and she rejoined the U.S.D.S. late last year. She was named the administrator of DOGE on Tuesday.
    Agency involvement: Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, United States Digital Service
  • Chris Young

    Musk’s top political adviser
    Mr. Musk hired Mr. Young, a top Republican field operative, to run his Super PAC last year. Mr. Young recently joined the DOGE team to help manage the effort.
    Agency involvement: Office of Personnel Management, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau

DOGE staffers

  • Amanda Scales

    Chief of staff, Office of Personnel Management
    Ms. Scales, who worked at Mr. Musk’s artificial intelligence company, has a senior role at the Office of Personnel Management, a powerful agency that manages government hiring.
    Agency involvement: Office of Personnel Management
    Company involvement: xAI
  • Katie Miller

    Senior adviser
    Ms. Miller, a longtime aide to Mr. Trump, acts as a senior adviser to the operation. The president called her a “deeply experienced communications professional” when he named her to the team as one of the first hires.
  • Riccardo Biasini

    Top aide to Musk
    Mr. Biasini is one of many aides of Mr. Musk who traveled with him to multiple companies before joining the government effort. Among other roles he has held, he is an executive at the Boring Company, Mr. Musk’s tunneling business.
    Agency involvement: Office of Personnel Management
    Company involvement: X, The Boring Company
  • Anthony Armstrong

    Senior adviser, Office of Personnel Management
    Mr. Armstrong is a former Morgan Stanley banker who worked on Mr. Musk’s deal to buy Twitter. He now serves as a senior adviser to the Office to Personnel Management.
    Agency involvement: Office of Personnel Management
    Company involvement: X
  • Jennifer Balajadia

    Mr. Musk’s assistant
    Ms. Balajadia is Mr. Musk’s longtime assistant, and she has email addresses at multiple federal agencies — a sign of her reach across the bureaucracy, alongside Mr. Musk’s.
    Agency involvement: Department of Education
    Company involvement: The Boring Company
  • Adam Ramada

    DOGE liaison, Education and Labor Departments
    Mr. Ramada comes from a background in finance start-ups, and he has identified himself in lawsuits as the head of teams assigned to the Education and Labor Departments. He has been described by people involved in meetings with him as a liaison between Elon Musk’s engineers and political appointees in the government.
    Agency involvement: General Services Administration, Department of Education, Department of Labor
  • Brooks Morgan

    Education start-up executive
    Mr. Morgan comes from the private sector with experience running an education start-up. He has been described by people at the Education Department as focused on the agency’s work force and budget.
    Agency involvement: Department of Education
  • Tarak Makecha

    Finance executive
    Before DOGE, Mr. Makecha worked as a finance executive at a software company that detects drones. He has been involved in meetings with the State Department and on foreign aid.
    Agency involvement: State Department
    Company involvement: Tesla
  • Scott Langmack

    DOGE liason, Housing and Urban Development
    Mr. Langmack is a businessman who has worked in real estate technology. He has been embedded at the Housing and Urban Development Department.
    Agency involvement: Department of Housing and Urban Development
  • Rachel Riley

    Adviser, Health and Human Services
    Ms. Riley is a former consultant with McKinsey, the global consulting giant. She is working at the Department of Health and Human Services and has worked closely with Brad Smith. The two requested access to payment systems at the Medicare agency, according to a document seen by The Times.
    Agency involvement: Department of Health and Human Services
  • Tom Krause

    Senior Treasury official
    Mr. Krause has been leading DOGE efforts to review the Treasury Department’s payment systems, which contain sensitive information about millions of Americans. He clashed with a top civil servant at the Treasury, who resisted giving Mr. Krause access to the systems and later resigned from his job. Mr. Krause has since been named to that civil servant’s job, with oversight of the nation’s fiscal systems.
    Agency involvement: Treasury Department
  • Marko Elez

    Software engineer
    Mr. Elez is a former X employee who has been granted access to the Treasury Department’s payments system. A history of racist social media posts led him to be fired from DOGE in February. But he was quickly reinstated after Vice President JD Vance came to his defense.
    Agency involvement: Treasury Department
    Company involvement: X, SpaceX, xAI
  • Ryan Wunderly

    Special adviser, Treasury Department
    Mr. Wunderly was hired to fill Marko Elez’s vacant role at the Treasury, which gives him read-only access to the department’s payments system, according to a court filing.
    Agency involvement: Treasury Department
  • Edward Coristine

    Software engineer
    Mr. Coristine is one of the youngest DOGE staffers, having graduated high school last year. A coder who interned at Neuralink, one of Mr. Musk’s companies, Mr. Coristine was fired from another internship at a tech firm after an investigation into the leaking of internal information.
    Agency involvement: General Services Administration, United States Agency for International Development, Department of Education
    Company involvement: Neuralink
  • Luke Farritor

    Software engineer
    Few of Mr. Musk’s aides have been spotted at as many federal agencies as Mr. Farritor, a prize-winning computer scientist who dropped out of college. He has spent a significant amount of time at the General Services Administration, interviewing tech staff members about their work.
    Agency involvement: General Services Administration, United States Agency for International Development, Centers for Disease Control, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Department of Energy, Department of Education, Department of Health and Human Services
    Company involvement: SpaceX
  • Christopher Stanley

    Software engineer
    Mr. Stanley has worked for Elon Musk at SpaceX and X in security engineering roles. He recently was involved in helping to release Jan. 6 prisoners.
    Agency involvement: Office of Personnel Management, Department of Justice
    Company involvement: X, SpaceX
  • Ethan Shaotran

    Software engineer
    Mr. Shaotran is part of the cadre of young coders. He founded an artificial intelligence start-up that received funding from OpenAI, a major player in tech and one of Mr. Musk’s chief competitors in A.I.
    Agency involvement: General Services Administration, Department of Education
  • Alexandra Beynon

    Software engineer
    Ms. Beynon is a former head of engineering at a company that prescribes ketamine therapy. She applied to work at the U.S. Digital Service, the executive office tech unit that was taken over by DOGE, just before Mr. Trump’s inauguration in January.
    Agency involvement: Department of Education
  • Gavin Kliger

    Software engineer
    Mr. Kliger, who has no government experience, has emerged as one of Mr. Musk’s most prolific foot soldiers. He has clashed with security officials at U.S.A.I.D. and sought access to sensitive taxpayer data at the I.R.S.
    Agency involvement: Office of Personnel Management, United States Agency for International Development, Internal Revenue Service
  • Jordan Wick

    Software engineer
    Mr. Wick is among the young coders working at DOGE, and he worked at Waymo, the self-driving car company. He also co-founded a hackathon aimed at developing A.I. software for government infrastructure.
    Agency involvement: Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
  • Cole Killian

    Software engineer
    Mr. Killian is among the young coders working at DOGE and is listed as a detailee at the Environmental Protection Agency, a designation often given to those on temporary assignment.
    Agency involvement: Environmental Protection Agency
  • Greg Hogan

    Software engineer
    With a background in software engineering and A.I., Mr. Hogan has taken over the technology office at Office of Personnel Management.
    Agency involvement: Office of Personnel Management
  • Ryan Riedel

    Network security engineer
    Mr. Riedel left an engineering role at SpaceX to join the Energy Department as chief information officer, according to his LinkedIn account. The account also includes prior information technology roles in the U.S. military.
    Agency involvement: Department of Energy
    Company involvement: SpaceX
  • Nikhil Rajpal

    Software engineer
    Mr. Rajpal is part of the group of young coders at DOGE who have gone into various federal agencies to carry out Mr. Musk’s directives.
    Agency involvement: Office of Personnel Management, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
  • Akash Bobba

    Software engineer
    Mr. Bobba is among the young coders at DOGE. He interned at Palantir, which was founded by Peter Thiel, a longtime Republican backer who has a long, on-again-off-again history with Mr. Musk.
    Agency involvement: Office of Personnel Management, General Services Administration
  • James Burnham

    DOGE’s top lawyer
    Mr. Burnham is a well-known conservative attorney who has provided oversight of legal work for the team.
  • Brian Bjelde

    Top aide to Musk
    Mr. Bjelde helped carry out widespread layoffs at X and was an early executive at SpaceX, where he worked in human resources — experience that carries over to his new role at the Office of Personnel Management.
    Agency involvement: Office of Personnel Management
    Company involvement: X, SpaceX
  • Kendall Lindemann

    Human resources staffer
    Ms. Lindemann is an associate of Brad Smith and Amy Gleason who is now working on the team in a human resources and operations role.
    Agency involvement: United States Digital Service
  • Stephanie Holmes

    Human resources staffer, Office of Personnel Management
    Ms. Holmes is a human resources consultant whose practice focuses on pushing back against corporate diversity, equity and inclusion programs. She has joined DOGE and been working on federal work force projects for the operation.
  • Christina Hanna

    Human resources staffer, Office of Personnel Management
    Ms. Hanna worked at SpaceX and is a former H.R. manager for Mr. Musk. She now works at the Office of Personnel Management.
    Agency involvement: Office of Personnel Management
    Company involvement: SpaceX
  • Stephen Duarte

    Human resources staffer, Office of Personnel Management
    Mr. Duarte worked at SpaceX and is a former H.R. manager for Mr. Musk. He now works at the Office of Personnel Management.
    Agency involvement: Office of Personnel Management
    Company involvement: SpaceX
  • Bryanne-Michelle Mlodzianowski

    Human resources staffer, Office of Personnel Management
    Ms. Mlodzianowski worked at SpaceX and is a former H.R. manager for Mr. Musk. She now works at the Office of Personnel Management.
    Agency involvement: Office of Personnel Management
    Company involvement: SpaceX
  • Jeremy Lewin

    Lawyer
    Mr. Lewin is a Harvard Law School graduate who has been part of DOGE teams entering several federal agencies, including U.S.A.I.D. and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. He once worked as a research assistant for Laurence Tribe, a liberal legal scholar.
    Agency involvement: General Services Administration, United States Agency for International Development, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
  • Jacob Altik

    Lawyer
    Mr. Altik is a lawyer who was selected to clerk for Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch. In private practice at Weil, Gotshal & Manges, a prominent firm, he focused on litigating complex business disputes in state and federal courts.
    Agency involvement: Office of Personnel Management
  • Noah Peters

    Lawyer
    Mr. Peters is a lawyer who served in the first Trump administration and has a specialty in labor and employment issues. He is now working at the Office of Personnel Management.
    Agency involvement: Office of Personnel Management
  • Austin Raynor

    Lawyer
    Mr. Raynor is an attorney who has worked for the Justice Department and once clerked for Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas. He now works for the Office of Personnel Management.
    Agency involvement: Office of Personnel Management
  • Michael Russo

    Chief information officer, Social Security Administration
    Before joining the Social Security Administration, Mr. Russo was an executive at a tech company that processes payments for Mr. Musk’s Starlink.
    Agency involvement: Social Security Administration
    Company involvement: Starlink
  • Frank Schuler

    Real estate executive
    Mr. Schuler is a partner in a real estate investment firm based in Atlanta and has an email address at the General Services Administration, which manages the federal government’s property portfolio.
  • Nicole Hollander

    Real estate manager, General Services Administration
    With a background in real estate management, Ms. Hollander has followed her husband, Steve Davis, into federal government. She previously aided Mr. Musk after he bought Twitter and is now responsible for the assessment of federal buildings and leases through the General Services Administration.
    Agency involvement: General Services Administration
    Company involvement: X
  • Joanna Wischer

    Policy analyst
    Ms. Wischer was a policy analyst and speechwriter for the Trump presidential campaign.
  • Justin Monroe

    Expert, Office of Personnel Management
    Mr. Monroe is listed as an “expert” at the Office for Personnel Management. He previously worked as a security director at SpaceX.
    Agency involvement: Office of Personnel Management, Federal Bureau of Investigation
    Company involvement: SpaceX

DOGE allies

  • Michael Grimes

    Adviser, Commerce Department
    Mr. Grimes is an executive in charge of tech investment banking at Morgan Stanley. He helped to finance Mr. Musk’s $44 billion takeover of Twitter in 2022 and is now now an employee of the Commerce Department.
    Agency involvement: Commerce Department
    Company involvement: X
  • Russell Vought

    Director, Office of Management and Budget
    Mr. Vought worked with Mr. Musk before the inauguration as a guide to the budgeting process and the federal government.
    Agency involvement: Office of Management and Budget
  • Joe Gebbia

    Billionaire Airbnb co-founder
    Mr. Gebbia, who has backed Democrats in the past, said he voted for Mr. Trump last year and is a strong supporter of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. He is said to be assisting DOGE, although his exact role is not clear.
  • Scott Kupor

    Venture capitalist
    Mr. Kupor is a managing partner at Andreessen Horowitz, a venture capital firm, and has been nominated to run the Office of Personnel Management. The firm’s co-founder, Marc Andreessen, played a heavy role in the presidential transition.
    Agency involvement: Office of Personnel Management
  • Thomas Shedd

    Technology director, General Services Administration
    A former Tesla engineer, Mr. Shedd is the appointed director of the specialized tech arm of the General Services Administration. Mr. Shedd has faced pushback from employees for his demands for data access.
    Agency involvement: General Services Administration
    Company involvement: Tesla
  • Leland Dudek

    Acting commissioner, Social Security Administration
    Mr. Dudek, a mid-level manager at the Social Security Administration, was suddenly elevated to become the agency’s acting commissioner in February. Mr. Dudek wrote on LinkedIn that before his ascension, he had been placed on administrative leave for assisting DOGE’s efforts.
    Agency involvement: Social Security Administration
  • Stephen Ehikian

    Acting administrator, General Services Administration
    Mr. Ehikian co-founded a tech company focused on AI assistants before his appointment to the government. After a meeting with Mr. Musk, Mr. Ehikian told General Services Administration staff members that he wanted them to apply a technique called “zero-based budgeting,” an approach that Mr. Musk deployed during his Twitter takeover and at his other companies.
    Agency involvement: General Services Administration
  • Antonio Gracias

    Outside adviser
    Mr. Gracias is one of Mr. Musk’s oldest friends; he was an early investor in SpaceX, Tesla and other companies, and he helped fund a pro-Trump super PAC started by Mr. Musk. Mr. Gracias said he was at Mar-a-Lago with Musk during the transition.
    Company involvement: SpaceX, Tesla
  • Baris Akis

    Recruiter
    Mr. Akis, who was born in Turkey and is not a U.S. citizen, is not involved with DOGE officially. But he played a sizable role during the transition, using his skills as a headhunter to recruit engineering talent.
    Agency involvement: Office of Personnel Management, Treasury Department, Internal Revenue Service
The Times attempted to contact each DOGE staffer on this list through a combination of verified email addresses and social media accounts. For those without known contact information, Times reporters tried to reach them by sending emails to a name and address pattern consistent with other known email addresses. No one returned the Times’s requests for comment.

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