Elon Musk And His ‘Unknown Soldiers’ Have The Federal Workforce ‘On Edge’

February 5, 2025

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Newly minted “special government employee” Elon Musk and his minions are sending shockwaves through the government.

After spending over $290 million to help elect President Donald Trump last year, Musk, who is the richest man in the world, was tapped to lead the “Department of Government Efficiency.” The entity, which was named in a winking reference to the DOGE meme and crypto coin, was the brainchild of the terminally online billionaire. Its nominal goal is reducing government waste — however, in the fifteen days since Trump took office, the so-called “DOGE teams” now embedding throughout federal agencies have caused chaos with their questionably legal push for access to sensitive data.

Within the past week, Musk associates have reportedly gained access to Treasury Department pay systems, in addition to data sets at other agencies. DOGE has also called for massive staff purges with an initial focus on the U.S. Agency for International Development, which is a key conduit for foreign aid programs.

These dramatic changes have led to resignations and widespread alarm from Democratic Party lawmakers as well legal and security experts. The fears include the unelected DOGE teams making major policy shifts and security risks posed by their information access. Based on calls and messages sent to TPM, inside the federal workforce, there have been rampant rumors of agency sites potentially going dark entirely and staffers losing access to their payroll and performance data. An employee at an executive branch agency, who requested anonymity due to concerns about potential retaliation, told TPM that DOGE has everyone “on edge.”

“They have us so off balance now,” the employee said.

Specifically, the employee said there were worries DOGE might use data to “root out” people who had participated in the diversity and inclusion efforts that are frequent focuses of both Musk and Trump’s ire.

“With Musk’s folks getting access to a lot of systems, it’s concerning. They could have info on us,” the employee said, adding, “People are concerned they could target anyone who even briefly participated in a DEIA workgroup or initiative.”

A former senior official who worked at the Defense Department through the end of former President Joe Biden’s term last month said they were in touch with former colleagues, and morale is low at the Pentagon.

“I think people are very freaked out about what this means,” the ex-senior official said. “They are going to lose a lot of people who have been there a long time and that’s the continuity that helps us transition. That’s the expertise you need. When you only have yes men, it’s dangerous. There’s not even really a check on the system. It’s scary. It’s totally scary.”

The Trump White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Musk, as is his custom, has responded to the criticism with memes and emojis. He has also sought to drum up support from his fans online — or as he calls them — ”unknown soldiers.”

“Doge will win if millions of people support it in ways that I wouldn’t even know how they supported it, but just that you did,” Musk said in a DOGE audio chat he hosted on X late last Sunday, adding. “Thank you to the unknown soldier.”

The identity of the members of Musk’s DOGE teams is still largely unknown, but recent reports from Wired have pinpointed a cohort of largely 20-something engineers with ties to Musk’s associates and companies as being part of the effort. According to public records reviewed by TPM, one of those young engineers, Edward Coristine, formed a tech business of his own in late 2021 that was named “Tesla.Sexy LLC,” an apparent homage to Musk’s electric car company. Coristine did not respond to a request for comment.

Of course, more than any young would-be broverlords, the most important soldier and ally in Musk’s DOGE army is President Trump.

In his X chat last Sunday, Musk was joined by Vivek Ramaswamy, an aspiring Republican politician who played an early role in DOGE, and two supportive GOP senators: Utah’s Mike Lee and Iowa’s Joni Ernst. Ramawamy suggested a pair of crucial forces would help them in their quest to dramatically reshape the federal government.

“You got two things going for us right now in the country that haven’t happened in a long time, one is a willing president, Donald Trump, who actually believes everything that all four of us have just said, which is a beautiful thing,” Ramaswamy said. “Number two is, thanks to him actually, in his first term, you’ve got a Supreme Court that 6 to 3 vehemently agrees with everything we’ve just said.”

Musk, as is his custom, cut in as Ramaswamy spoke to offer his own assessment.

“Let me just say, the more I’ve got to know President Trump, the more I like him. Frankly, I love the guy. He’s great,” Musk said. “This is our shot. This is the best hand of cards we’re ever going to have.”