‘Second American Revolution’: The team behind DOGE’s government overhaul

As Musk’s team barrels its way through the government seeking access to sensitive information, questions are arising about the people behind DOGE

One is a 23-year-old software engineer from Nebraska who helped decipher an ancient scroll buried for centuries. Another was the runner-up in a “hackathon” contest last year as a Harvard senior. A third is the CEO of a multibillion-dollar start-up. These are among the operatives linked to Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) whose work to slash public spending and reshape the federal bureaucracy have sent shockwaves through government agencies. For the past couple of weeks, DOGE staffers have appeared without warning throughout the nation’s bureaucracy, seeking access to sensitive files, databases and computer systems. Their movements inside offices from Washington, DC, to Kansas City have been detailed by a frightened federal workforce and chronicled by media outlets seeking answers about their specific activities and intentions. Some of the most pointed concerns were summed up in a letter this week from Democratic senators to the White House: “No information has been provided to Congress or the public as to who has been formally hired under DOGE, under what authority or regulations DOGE is operating, or how DOGE is vetting and monitoring its staff and representatives before providing them seemingly unfettered access to classified materials and Americans’ personal information.” Although the slate of software engineers in their early 20s working under DOGE appear to lack government experience, their resumes detail impressive accomplishments in the tech field. Meanwhile, on X, Musk’s social media platform, DOGE itself has been boasting of alleged accomplishments: “DOGE is saving the Federal Government approx. $1 billion/day,” the account claimed in a post last week. “A good start, though this number needs to increase to > $3 billion/day.”