Elon Musk’s DOGE has swept into 14 federal agencies. Here’s what to know.
Staffed by more than 30 engineers, lawyers and others — many with ties to Musk’s companies — DOGE and its allies have rattled the federal workforce.
By Washington Post
Staffers and allies of Elon Musk’s U.S. DOGE Service have fanned out across Washington in recent days, seeking access to sensitive data and disrupting operations in at least 14 government agencies in pursuit of a dramatically smaller federal government.
DOGE, which stands for the Department of Government Efficiency, has not disclosed the names of its staff. But The Washington Post has identified more than 30 people working for or closely with it by examining the internal directories of multiple agencies and interviewing numerous federal workers, virtually all of whom spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear of retaliation.
About half of those identified have ties to Musk or his companies. Among them are Luke Farritor, 23, a recent intern at Musk’s rocket company, SpaceX, and Steve Davis, president of Musk’s tunneling company, Boring Co. Davis, one of Musk’s most trusted deputies, oversaw cost-cutting at the social media platform Twitter, which Musk bought in 2022 and renamed X.
Musk loyalists in other positions include Amanda Scales, the new chief of staff at the Office of Personnel Management, who worked at xAI, Musk’s artificial intelligence company; three of her direct reports previously worked for SpaceX. And Thomas Shedd, who was recently named director of a critical tech unit within the General Services Administration, worked for years at Tesla, Musk’s electric car company.
Musk’s allies have established their strongest footholds in three agencies: OPM, which oversees the federal workforce; GSA, which controls real estate and logistics; and the Department of the Treasury, which manages the nation’s finances. Each office aligns with a key Musk goal: to reduce the number of government workers, to diminish the government’s overall footprint and to slow the flow of government cash to recipients deemed unworthy.
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