Second American Revolution: The Team Behind DOGE’s Government Overhaul

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 has 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.”

The group has highlighted what it has dubbed wasteful spending, such as millions in “DEI-related” contracts and dozens of leases for “underutilized” buildings.

Yet some warn DOGE’s approach risks undermining federal offices that provide vital public services.

“If you don’t understand the system you’re trying to change, you don’t understand how to prevent bad consequences,” said Max Stier, the president and CEO of the Partnership for Public Service, a nonprofit that works toward building better government and a stronger democracy. He described DOGE’s actions as “an embodiment of the Silicon Valley world, ‘break it and then fix it.’ We should worry that government is not a tech start-up. Breaking it to fix it is a horrifying model in the public sector because people get hurt.”

As DOGE continues its unprecedented overhaul of agencies ranging from international aid to aviation to commerce, the architect behind its agenda has likened the current moment to the country’s founding.

In response to a post on X calling the effort “The Second American Revolution,” Musk replied: “Yes. And much needed.”

DOGE Plugs Into Agencies

When two DOGE staffers showed up last week at the US Agency for International Development (USAID) headquarters demanding access to sensitive security files and personnel information, they were initially refused entry by security officials.

Following threats to call law enforcement by the DOGE staffers, they were ultimately able to access the headquarters, multiple sources familiar with the situation told CNN. Katie Miller – the wife of President Donald Trump’s deputy chief of staff for policy who was named to DOGE in December – appeared to confirm that DOGE personnel gained access to classified information at USAID.

“No classified material was accessed without proper security clearances,” she said in a post on X.

The showdown raised concerns about the extent to which DOGE and its staffers would go to access additional sensitive databases and information as they barrel through federal agencies without clear answers to the legality of their moves or the security measures taken to mitigate risk.

DOGE has continued moving from agency to agency, requesting and successfully accessing internal systems.

At least one DOGE representative gained access to IT systems at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association (NOAA) this week, with the goal of sniffing out activity and employees connected to diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts.

A DOGE employee has also been reviewing operations and contracts at the Department of Veterans Affairs, the agency that includes the nation’s largest integrated healthcare system. A VA spokesperson confirmed the employee “will not have access” to veterans’ data.

Over at the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), the agency said that two senior officials are leading the “collaboration” with DOGE, “including ensuring appropriate access to CMS systems and technology.”

In response to the initial reporting by the Wall Street Journal, Musk posted on X, “this is where the big money fraud is happening.”

Some agencies are preparing for their turn to work with DOGE. In the wake of the country’s deadliest airliner crash in over two decades, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy eagerly announced the incoming DOGE partnership.

“Big News – Talked to the DOGE team. They are going to plug in to help upgrade our aviation system,” Duffy posted on X. It remains unclear how DOGE will improve the aviation system.

Legal Challenges

Not every attempt by DOGE to access agency systems has gone smoothly, with legal actions taken by unions and other departments to prevent DOGE from gathering information.

The AFL-CIO, the nation’s largest labor federation, filed an emergency lawsuit this week against DOGE amid anticipation that it would be heading for the Department of Labor, an attempt to stop Musk’s team “from unlawfully accessing the DOL’s systems and information.”

Federal workers undergoing rapid overhauls of their agencies have expressed shock and concern over the lack of transparency and chaotic nature of the developments.

“My colleagues are getting 15-minute one-on-one check-ins with 19, 20, 21-year-old college graduates asking to justify their existence,” one speaker at a recent town hall in northern Virginia said. “We got word that supervisors must now fill out a justification form and that there’s going to be just a 30% rank and yank with all staff of our agency.”

As DOGE’s overhaul continues, the federal workforce remains on edge, grappling with the consequences of a radical restructuring led by an unconventional team with unprecedented access and power.