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Around half of the staff members in President Donald Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency are reportedly connected to Elon Musk through previous work experience.
The efficiency department, known as DOGE, operates under Musk’s leadership with a mandate to identify and eliminate government waste and inefficiencies.
The involvement of DOGE has sparked controversy among Democrats, particularly regarding their access to sensitive information while conducting investigations into 15 different government agencies.
BREAKING: President Donald Trump suggested that Elon Musk’s government efficiency team has found irregularities in US treasuries, as per Bloomberg. pic.twitter.com/stpUMZfHba
— DogeDesigner (@cb_doge) February 9, 2025
Through an investigation involving internal agency directories and federal employee interviews, The Washington Post uncovered the identities of more than 30 individuals working with or for Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency, despite their names not being officially disclosed.
The investigation revealed that approximately half of these identified individuals have connections to Musk or his various business ventures. Notable members include SpaceX’s former intern Luke Farritor, 23, Boring Co. president Steve Davis, former xAI employee Amanda Scales, and Thomas Shedd, who previously worked as a software engineer at Tesla.
Additional team members with Musk connections, according to NPR, include Cloud Software Group CEO Tom Krause and Riccardo Biasini, whose experience spans both Tesla and the Boring Company.
The Post’s investigation found that Musk’s associates have established significant presence within key government departments, particularly the Office of Personnel Management, General Services Administration, and Treasury Department – agencies responsible for federal workforce oversight, logistics and real estate management, and national financial operations respectively.
The team also includes individuals without direct ties to Musk, such as Noah Peters, 39, who previously served at the Federal Labor Relations Authority. The Post noted that the DOGE team includes at least 10 engineers, with six of them being 25 years old or younger.
I don’t understand why all Americans aren’t rejoicing in finally knowing how our tax dollars are being spent. Are you glad DOGE is shining a light? pic.twitter.com/5ycjSMmUy1
— Michelle Maxwell (@MichelleMaxwell) February 8, 2025
Some team members have received extensive access credentials, including official email addresses across multiple agencies.
“Great coordination across 35 agencies over the last two days to terminate 199 wasteful contracts saving ~$250mm, including: – Contract for ‘Asia Pacific – Sri Lanka climate change mitigation adaption and resilience coordinator services for forest service’ – Workshop for ‘Intercultural communication diversity dialogue circle communicating across differences,'” DOGE posted Friday night on X.
NPR reports that DOGE’s operational scope may ultimately be determined by numerous potential legal challenges, with some cases possibly reaching the Supreme Court for final resolution.
