Was DOGE the Shame of America?

Hundred of People Should Feel the Shame

The inaptly named Department of Government Efficiency officially wound down its operations this summer — with no public accounting of its operations. But a new Washington Post report suggests that the rapacious spirit of DOGE lives on in a new form. – MS.NOW, Zeeshan Aleem, October 14, 2026 – The ghost of DOGE is still haunting Washington – A new report illuminates how DOGE alumni are angling to profit off their brief stint destroying the government.

Elon Musk has spent decades building a universe of companies that has served as an incubator for up-and-coming engineers and a proving ground for his inner circle. – TechCrunch – The people in Elon Musk’s DOGE universe – Meet the DOGE staffers and senior advisors in Elon Musk’s inner circle, and how they got there.

How Did Many of Them Get Paid?

Bottom line: Taxpayers funded at least some of the DOGE workforce, including employees earning approximately $120,000 to $195,000 a year. The government also allocated tens of millions of dollars to DOGE’s operations and arranged for agencies to reimburse it for personnel and services. But the available evidence does not support assigning a precise salary to every person on the list or calculating a definitive total payroll cost.

Note: Names and titles vary among news reports, and some people held jobs at federal agencies rather than in DOGE itself. This table is a consolidated research list, not a claim that every individual was a direct DOGE employee.

• Steve Davis – Senior operational leader – A longtime Musk associate who helped oversee operations and recruit DOGE staff.
• Amy Gleason – U.S. DOGE Service administrator – A former U.S. Digital Service employee who was publicly identified as the service’s administrator.
• Brad Smith – Senior DOGE figure – A healthcare entrepreneur and former head of the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation.
• Vivek Ramaswamy – Initial co-leader designation – Was announced alongside Musk in the original DOGE plan but left the initiative in January 2025.
• Katie Miller (nee Waldman) – handled DOGE communications early on.
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• Joe Gebbia – Airbnb co-founder who worked on federal retirement-system modernization
• Emil Michael – involved in regulatory-reduction efforts
• Michael Kratsios – a senior technology-policy official associated with the administration’s DOGE effort
• Akash Bobba Technical staffer
• Alexandra Beynon DOGE staffer
• Amanda Scales Personnel and recruiting; later OPM chief of staff
• Anthony Armstrong DOGE staffer
• Anthony Jancso Recruiting and AI initiatives
• Aram Moghaddassi DOGE-related technical work
• Austin Raynor Legal staffer
• Brian Bjelde Musk associate; senior advisory work
• Bryanne-Michelle Mlodzianowski DOGE staffer
• Brooks Morgan DOGE staffer
• Christopher Stanley Technical staffer
• Chris Young Senior figure associated with DOGE
• Cole Killian (Gautier Killian) DOGE staffer
• Edward Coristine Technical staffer
• Ethan Shaotran Technical staffer
• Frank Schuler DOGE staffer
• Gavin Kliger Technical staffer and agency adviser
• George Cooper DOGE-associated personnel
• Greg Hogan DOGE staffer
• James Burnham DOGE staffer
• Jehn Balajadia Musk assistant and DOGE associate
• Jennifer Balajadia Name used in some reporting; verify identity before treating as a separate person
• Jeremy Lewin DOGE staffer and agency official
• Joanna Wischer DOGE-associated staffer
• Jordan Wick Technical staffer
• Justin Monroe DOGE staffer
• Kendall Lindemann DOGE staffer
• Luke Farritor Technical staffer
• Marko Elez Software engineer
• Michael Russo DOGE staffer
• Nikhil Rajpal Technical staffer
• Nicole Hollander DOGE staffer
• Rachel Riley DOGE staffer
• Riccardo Biasini Former Tesla engineer; technical staffer
• Ryan Riedel DOGE staffer
• Ryan Wunderly Information technology and modernization adviser
• Scott Langmack DOGE staffer
• Scott Coulter DOGE associate
• Stephanie Holmes DOGE staffer
• Tarak Makecha Former Tesla employee; agency assignments
• Thomas Shedd Technology official associated with DOGE
• Tom Krause Finance executive and DOGE figure
• Vinay Hiremath DOGE associate
• Kyle Schutt Technical staffer
• Branden Spikes Former DOGE operative; Musk’s longtime technology associate
• Michael Kratsios Senior administration technology official

Additional names identified by investigative reporters
ProPublica continued identifying DOGE-connected personnel well after Musk left his government role in May 2025. Its reporting includes the following additional names.

• Adam Hoffman — Department of Justice assignments.
• Allan Mangaser — Senior adviser in federal technology modernization; later said he had never been a DOGE member.
• Ankur Bansal — Department of Transportation-related work.
• Boris Kizenko — Senior adviser.
• Brian Michael Burroughs — Information technology spending reviews.
• Brian Stube — Department of Transportation adviser.
• Christopher Sweet — AI engineering and regulatory analysis.
• David Malcher — Former SpaceX employee; DOGE-related work at the Department of Veterans Affairs.
• Derek Geissler — General Services Administration projects.
• Donald Park — Small Business Administration-related work.
• Eliezer Mishory — SEC-related DOGE work.
• Emily L. Bryant — Unpaid consultant.
• Jack Stein — General Services Administration assignments.
• Jim Hickey — Department of Defense adviser.
• Jonathan Mendelson — SEC adviser.
• Joshua A. Fox — Former DOGE associate general counsel.
• Justin Fox — General Services Administration and other agency assignments.
• Marshall Wood — U.S. Agency for Global Media assignments.
• Matthew Parkhurst-Session — DOGE projects involving federal procurement and technology.
• Michael Cole — Department of Agriculture connection.
• Michael Grimes — Senior adviser with a background in finance and Musk’s Twitter acquisition.
• Mike Gonzalez — Office of Personnel Management adviser.
• Mike Slagh — Department of Defense-related work.
• Miles Collins — Department of Labor.
• Nicholas Gallagher — General Services Administration legal office.
• Patrick George — DOGE lead at the U.S. Navy, according to ProPublica.
• Rajasekar Jegannathan — Technology and data engineering.
• Riley Sennott — Former Tesla employee; DOGE-related assignments.
• Ryan Shea — General Services Administration projects.
• Sam Corcos — Treasury adviser and IRS-related work.
• Tarak Makecha — Also identified in earlier reporting.
• Todd Newnam — IRS contract reviews.
• Yinon Weiss — Department of Defense team leader.
• Zachary Terrell — Health and Human Services and National Science Foundation assignments.