The Recruitment Effort That Helped Build Elon Musk's DOGE Army
As DOGE staffers—many of them young and with little or no government experience—continue to gain access to sensitive data across about a dozen government agencies, this is the first look at some of the networks from which the agency has recruited, and who they relied on to enlist talent.
In online chat groups linked to Palantir alumni and SpaceX interns, Musk's space company, as well as in a Discord server associated with a military artificial intelligence program, the engineers said they were looking for people willing to spend six months in Washington, DC cutting federal spending—which accounts for around a quarter of the US gross domestic product—by a third.
Anthony Jancso, one of three engineers associated with the recruitment effort, is a former Palantir employee. According to sources, Jancso said he was recruited to DOGE by Steve Davis, the Boring Company president and Musk lieutenant whom Bloomberg reported in December was leading recruitment for DOGE.
Palantir, Jancso, and Davis did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Jancso's resume lists him as a 2021 graduate of University College London and as having been a 'forward deployed' software engineer at Palantir between December 2021 and May 2023. Jancso is best known for leading a project called Accelerate SF, which aims to leverage AI in the public sector. In a 2023 story about a then-upcoming hackathon, VentureBeat reported that Accelerate had received support from companies including OpenAI and Anthropic. In 2024, the venture became known as AccelerateX. Purporting to offer 'a modern OS for government,' AccelerateX claims it 'transforms government infrastructure with AI-powered automation and software, delivered in days.'
On November 26, 2024, in a message reviewed by WIRED, a person using a screen name including the name Anthony and the same handle that Jancso uses on his X account posted in a Discord server associated with the Space Force Generative AI Challenge—an 'eight-week combination of AI crash course and problem-solving hack-a-thon that engaged 350-plus participants,' according to its website.
'Helping the Dept. of Government Efficiency team find hardcore engineers,' the message reads. 'Send your GitHub/LinkedIn to @DOGE on X and your X handle to me in DM if you're interested or know someone who is, could help get them into the pipeline.'
In early December, in another message reviewed by WIRED, a person using the same handle posted to a chat group for Palantir alumni.
'Hey all,' the message read. 'I'm helping Elon's team find tech talent for the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) in the new admin. This is a historic opportunity to build an efficient government, and to cut the federal budget by 1/3. If you're interested in playing a role in this mission, please reach out in the next few days.'
A person using the handle George Cooper followed on.
'Similar to Anthony's post,' the message read, 'I'm also looking to refer people to DOGE. Efficiency will always be an exceptionally hard, complex problem and I personally believe we need the brightest people in the world to wrestle with that problem. I've always found Palantirians & ex-Palantirians to be the most exceptional people I know, so who better to confront that challenge. Shoot me a DM (or @Anthony ofc) if you're interested.'
(Reaction to these messages was, a source tells WIRED, 'mixed.')
According to an online resume, George Cooper graduated from Lehigh University in 2019 and has been employed at Palantir as a 'forward deployed' engineer since May 2024, following another stint at the company in a similar role from 2019 to 2023. He did not immediately reply to a request for comment.
It's unclear what role, if any, Jancso currently has within DOGE. But one of Accelerate SF's cofounders, as reported by VentureBeat, is former Waymo software engineer Jordan Wick, who completed undergrad at MIT in 2019 and earned a masters from the school the following year. Wick, according to government records reviewed by WIRED, appears to have a DOGE email account associated with the Executive Office of the President. Two sources tell WIRED that Wick is among the team that has been given access to Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) systems and equipment. Wick did not immediately respond to a request from WIRED. Shortly after the email was sent, his online resume was removed.
On December 5, 2024, around the same time the messages associated with Jancso's handle were being sent out, a person using the handle Luke Farritor posted a message in a Discord server for SpaceX interns.
'Hi everyone! I'm recruiting SWEs for Doge. Reach out if interested!' the message reads. 'We are looking for skilled software engineers (and ops people) at any career stage who are willing to work for ~6mo in person in DC. Paid. Tons of really ambitious projects in the works. We are going to fix the government!'
The six-month timeline aligns with the 130 workday limit that special government employees (SGEs) are legally allowed to serve in a single year. Musk himself is currently categorized as an SGE.
Luke Farritor, as WIRED first reported, is a 23-year-old former SpaceX intern and Thiel Fellow now working as a DOGE technologist. Politico has reported that he is now listed as an information engineer in an internal directory at the Department of Energy. He did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Since its establishment by executive order on the first day of Donald Trump's presidency, DOGE has taken over key agencies at the center of the federal government such as the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) and the General Services Administration (GSA) and placed operatives in about a dozen agencies with the apparent aim of radically reducing the size of the federal workforce and increasing presidential powers.
Its access to sensitive data and systems has placed DOGE at the center of a growing number of legal battles. Early Saturday morning, a federal judge temporarily barred members of the task force from access to records and the Treasury payment system through which the vast majority of federal spending flows, and ordered records in their possession destroyed immediately. As WIRED has reported, a threat intelligence team at the agency recommended members have access to payment systems revoked and that they be monitored as an 'insider threat.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Axios
29 minutes ago
- Axios
Economic uncertainty casts shadow over June's solid jobs report
The American labor market keeps hanging on, even as signs of weakness crop up. Why it matters: Hiring is solid, defying expectations that the worrisome macroeconomic backdrop — huge uncertainty about trade, immigration, and the fiscal outlook — would keep more employers on the sidelines. But Thursday's Bureau of Labor Statistics report stops well short of giving an "all-clear" for the economy. Beyond the headline, labor supply is dwindling and demand for workers is narrowing. These issues could plague the labor market in the months ahead. By the numbers: Employment increased by 147,000 last month, surpassing the gain of 115,000 jobs forecasters anticipated. The unemployment rate edged down a tick to 4.1%. The government revised up payroll figures for April and May, noting that employment in the prior two months was higher by a combined 16,000 than initially forecast. The report showed that 80.7% of the prime-age population — those aged 25-54 — was employed, just 0.2 percentage point shy of the peak seen in this economic cycle. Zoom in: Conditions look less cheery beneath the surface. The private sector added just 74,000 jobs in June, almost half as many as the previous month. Jobs growth was overwhelmingly concentrated in state and local government, with less impressive gains in the most cyclical sectors — that is, those most exposed to the weakening economy. State and local government added 73,000 jobs, offsetting the continued declines in federal government (-7,000) from DOGE-related layoffs. The other big gainer was health care, which added 39,000 jobs. While the number of unemployed Americans fell, the labor force also continued to shrink for the second consecutive month, helping keep downward pressure on the unemployment rate. Another 130,000 workers exited the workforce in June. What they're saying:"There are real weaknesses in the market — including concentrated job gains, slowing wage growth, and falling participation — that have persisted for months, and there are scant signs of those concerns fading anytime soon," Indeed economist Cory Stahle wrote Thursday morning. The big picture: Stahle compared the current labor market to a sturdy tent, but one that is "increasingly held up by fewer poles." Among those poles are structural forces, including a shortage of workers from America's aging population and the immigration crackdown. There is also an "ongoing reluctance among employers so far" to layoff workers in masse, a scarring effect of the pandemic when it was impossible to find and train staff. Yes, but: There are profound economic changes underway that look set to supersede those factors; the adoption of AI is already shifting employers' hiring plans. President Trump is ending the era of free trade, making it more costly for businesses to get goods from overseas — a dynamic that will force a reckoning among companies about their other expenses, including labor.
Bloomberg
an hour ago
- Bloomberg
The Tax Bill's Private School Loophole Would Make DOGE Cry
An obscure provision in the budget reconciliation bill just passed by the Senate could expand access to private school education; help the wealthy offload stocks without paying capital gains taxes; and make DOGE — if it had feelings — cry at its inefficiency. The policy would allow donors who give to an eligible scholarship-granting organization to be reimbursed dollar-for-dollar in the form of a tax credit up to $1,700 (down from $5,000 in earlier drafts). Families making up to three times the average income would be eligible for these scholarships, which is to say, most families with school-age children.
Fox News
an hour ago
- Fox News
GOP lawmakers rebuke Elon Musk's primary threats, say Trump's legislation 'something we've got to do'
As lawmakers march toward a vote on President Donald Trump's "big, beautiful bill," House Republicans aren't too worried about primary threats from tech billionaire Elon Musk. Musk, who once served as the head of Trump's Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), has been highly critical of the president's legislative agenda. He had remained quiet about the bill until earlier this week when Senate Republicans were making strides to pass it. "We don't take threats lightly up here," Rep. Buddy Carter, R-Ga., told Fox News Digital. "And, you know, Elon, we appreciate all the work he did with DOGE — and he did some fine work, some great work — but at the same time, this is something we've got to do." Musk again returned to bemoan Republicans for supporting the legislative behemoth for its staggering $3.3 trillion price tag and the impact it would have on the nation's already massive, $37 trillion debt. He went so far as to threaten to back primary challengers against any Republican that voted for the bill. It wouldn't be the first time that Musk has been involved — he dumped millions into Trump's campaign last year. Now, House Republicans are gearing up to vote after hours of delays, negotiations and a near record-breaking amount of open floor time in the lower chamber. Additionally, many don't care about Musk's threats. Rep. Tim Walberg, R-Mi., told Fox News Digital that he was focused on doing the best "we could do, which is, frankly, better than what Elon Musk did." "I don't worry about Elon Musk," he said. "I do know that DOGE found some good things that we needed to remedy in this government. But the $2 trillion that Elon said he was going to find, he didn't." Musk took particular issue with the Senate's changes to the bill, too, and slammed it for adding trillions to the deficit. Rep. Brad Knott, R-N.C., noted that the bill cuts north of $1.5 trillion in an effort to help offset the cost of extending or making permanent Trump's 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. "I appreciate Mr. Musk's motivation," he told Fox News Digital. "I appreciate his focus on debt reduction, and I hope he'll take a step back and realize that we're still all on the same team here." While the Senate's changes, particularly to Medicaid and a reduction in the rollback of green energy subsidies from former President Joe Biden's Inflation Reduction Act, among other cost-driving issues, gave fiscal hawks in the House heartburn, House Republican leadership is confident that the bill will pass.
