The Elon Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency has recruited seven young engineers, aged between 19 and 25, who now have access to some of the federal government’s classified and sensitive systems, files,and information.
This group has reportedly gained access to the Treasury Department’s payment system. The department is tasked with cutting trillions of dollars in federal spending by eliminating programs and even agencies.
Here are the seven young engineers recruited by Elon Musk’s DOGE:
Gavin Kliger
Gavin Kliger is also 25 years old. He worked at the AI company Databricks before joining DOGE. According to his LinkedIn, Kliger is a “Special Adviser to the Director” in the Office of Personnel Management. The New York Times has identified Kliger as the person who sent an email directing USAID employees to work from home as DOGE prepares to shut down the agency. On his Substank page, Kliger wrote about his decision to join DOGE in a post titled: “Why DOGE” and explained, “Why I gave up a seven-figure salary to save America.”
Marko Elez
Marko Elez is 25 years old. He graduated from Rutgers University and worked as an engineer for X and SpaceX. According to WIRED, Elez has direct access to Treasury Department systems that disperse almost all federal government payments. In 2023, the system paid 87.9% of all federal payments. Elez has also been given administrator-level privileges that could allow him to change user permissions and delete and modify critical files that contain sensitive and confidential information.
Luke Farritor
Luke Farritor is 23 years old and has ties to Musk and Peter Thiel. He dropped out of the University of Nebraska to work for former GitHub CEO Nat Friedman and was once an intern at SpaceX. Farritor was awarded $700,000 for creating an AI that deciphered a ruined Pompeii scroll. He has a working General Services Administration email address, according to WIRED.
Edward Coristine
Edward Coristine is the youngest in this ground of DOGE employees at just 19 years. Coristine is studying at the Northeastern University in Boston and has completed a summer internship at Musk’s brain-computer interface startup Neuralink, WIRED reported. He is working with the designation of an “expert” within internal Office of Personnel Management records and reportedly appeared on a General Services Administration staff call.
Akash Bobba
Akash Bobba is 21 years old and listed as an “expert” within the Office of Personnel Management. After graduating from UC Berkeley, Bobba worked at the hedge fund Bridgewater Associates, Meta, and Thiel’s Palantir. WIRED has reported that he also has a General Service Administration email.
Ethan Shaotran
Ethan Shaotran, 22, is the founder of Energize AI, an AI-driven startup, and a computer science senior at Harvard University. He has a past affiliation with Musk, having participated in a hackathon held by Musk’s AI company, xAI. Shaotran was named runner-up in that competition. According to WIRED, Shaotran also has a working General Service Administration email.
Gautier Cole Killian
Gautier Cole Killian, 23, joined DOGE as a volunteer after working for a computerized trading firm, Jump Trading. He graduated high school in 2019 and studied at McGill University in Canada.
