A key DOGE staffer who was also one of the most trusted by Elon Musk has resigned from his position after his connections to racist social media posts advocating eugenics were unearthed.
Marko Elez was among two employees in the Department of Government Efficiency who were granted access to $5 trillion in Treasury payment systems following a last-minute court ruling on Thursday. However, by Thursday afternoon, the 25-year-old close trusted Musk ally had resigned after The Wall Street Journal investigated his ties to the now-deleted social media account. The publication reported that the X account supported the repealing of the Civil Rights Act and also endorsed an 'eugenic immigration policy.'
Exposed and Resigned
Other posts reportedly included comments such as, "You could not pay me to marry outside of my ethnicity', and 'normalize Indian hate." Another post allegedly read, "Just for the record, I was racist before it was cool."
The account also expressed views on the Israel-Palestine conflict, with a message reading, "I would not mind at all if Gaza and Israel were both wiped off the face of the Earth."
White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt confirmed that Elez had resigned from his position.
Elez earned a computer science degree from Rutgers University before joining Musk's SpaceX, Starlink, and X, where he mainly focused on AI.
This comes after a last-minute court request to restrict DOGE's access to the Treasury's $5 trillion system, marking the first setback for the fledgling agency after weeks of aggressively purging federal institutions to eliminate waste and overspending.
In the coming days and weeks, the court's ruling on privacy concerns regarding DOGE's access to sensitive data will serve as a crucial test of their ability to infiltrate and dismantle government spending.
Justice Department lawyers approved a motion granting two people linked to Musk 'read-only' access to the system—covering tax returns and social security numbers—on the condition that they do not disclose the information to others.
These two individuals are Musk supporters Tom Krause and Elez.
Musk Faces Criticism
Virginia Congressman Don Beyer referred to Elez's resignation as "a scandal." "Elon Musk gave a self-described 'racist' and eugenicist access to a system that controls all financial payments from the U.S. Treasury," he said.
"That system also contains the personal information including Social Security info of every American.
"This is why we have a process to vet civil servants, and why we hire and promote them based on merit, not their personal relationship to some rich guy. How dare Elon Musk bully and threaten good people who spent their careers serving the American people when he brings this level of gross incompetence to his work."
He called for everyone involved in hiring Elez to be "fired" and said that DOGE "should be shut down" entirely.
Musk has faced backlash for selecting a handpicked team of young, college-aged men to assist him in purging federal agencies and eliminating waste.
This week, six men between the ages of 19 and 25 were publicly named as DOGE employees.
At just 19, Edward Coristine is the youngest of the group tackling corporate America and established government institutions.
According to WIRED, he has been labeled an "expert" in his field, although details about his specific role remain unclear.
Akash Bobba, 21, Ethan Shaotran, 22, and Luke Farritor, 23, alongside Coristine, have reportedly been granted A-suite level clearance for their work, giving them access to the agency's top floor and all its physical spaces and IT systems.
