Report Reveals Concerns Over Young Hires in Government Led by Musk

A new WIRED report has pulled back the curtain on the inner workings of the Elon Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), revealing troubling insights. According to the report, the department is staffed predominantly by fresh-out-of-college recruits, many of whom have little to no prior government experience. In fact, at least one of these hires is still a college student.

These Musk loyalists, including Amanda Scales, the newly appointed Office of Personnel Management Chief of Staff, have played a key role in expanding influence across multiple federal agencies.

The investigation uncovered connections between some young recruits and billionaire Peter Thiel. A number of them are linked to Thiel's fellowship program, indicating his growing influence in the libertarian-leaning tech and political landscape.

While the DOGE executive order signed by Donald Trump technically restricts Musk's authority to the U.S. Digital Service, several allies, including these young, inexperienced software engineers, have secured significant roles within the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) and the General Services Administration (GSA). The GSA oversees the construction, management, and preservation of federal buildings.

The report identified six young men, aged 19 to 24, listed in internal OPM documents as "experts" or "special advisors" to the agency's director. These engineers—Akash Bobba, Edward Coristine, Luke Farritor, Gautier Cole Killian, Gavin Kliger, and Ethan Shaotran—previously interned for Musk or major tech companies like Meta before being fast-tracked into government positions without proper vetting.

Despite their lack of experience, documents obtained by WIRED indicate that these individuals have been granted official U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) emails and A-suite level clearance. This access enables them to work on the upper floors of the GSA and grants entry to sensitive information and IT systems.

Anonymous sources informed WIRED that Edward Coristine, who recently graduated high school and is now a freshman at Northeastern University, has already participated in calls where GSA employees needed to "go over code they had written and justify their jobs."

This revelation adds to the growing concerns about Musk's so-called "budget cuts," which appear increasingly like a power grab. The X and Tesla CEO has made moves to take control of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), which manages billions in foreign aid. Even more concerning is that Musk has secured influence over the U.S. Treasury's payment systems, which handle the disbursement of the federal government's massive $6 trillion budget.

Although Musk and his allies claim they only have "read-only" access to the Treasury's payment systems, the situation presents unprecedented challenges: an unelected group of unvetted tech operatives now exerts direct influence over the financial arteries of the U.S. government.