Exclusive: DOGE Workers ‘Energetic and Dug In’ Despite Threats

Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk walking into the White House grounds in Washington on Feb. 13, 2025. Travis Gillmore/The Epoch Times

This text appeared in the ‘Top Story’ email newsletter sent on Feb. 15, 2025.

WASHINGTON—Billions of dollars in, the Department of Government Efficiency is “still in the sorting stage.”

That was what one source familiar with DOGE’s operations told The Epoch Times amid threats, lawsuits, and other opposition to the organization.

Another source familiar with DOGE described a mood of resilience in Elon Musk’s time-limited organization. Despite violent threats leveled against its engineers, whose names have been revealed in reporting, those working to fulfill President Donald Trump’s mandate for large-scale federal reform are “energetic and dug in.”

Both sources spoke on the condition of anonymity, as they were not authorized to speak with the media.

The exclusive insights come as other reporters continue to reveal personal details about those hired into DOGE, which is set to expire on July 4, 2026.

Some of those details have been shared by anonymous sources within the agencies now under DOGE scrutiny. The organization reports its findings on X, owned by Musk, and on a new website, doge.gov.

The sources described a culture of young and highly technically adept “doers”—not the sort of people primarily concerned with shaping media coverage.

“These DOGE guys are completely action-oriented,” one of the sources told The Epoch Times.

One DOGE hire, Marko Elez, resigned after reporting revealed controversial statements that he made on X. Vice President J.D. Vance called for his rehiring, writing on X that “we shouldn’t reward journalists who try to destroy people.”

Trump stood behind Vance’s stance, and Musk made it clear Elez would be brought back into the fold.

“To err is human, to forgive divine,” wrote the tech entrepreneur, a man also known for courting controversy on the site now under his control.

A source familiar with DOGE rejected assertions that Musk has staffed that organization with far-right political actors. DOGE stands apart from previous government reform drives in part because of its far-reaching implementation of artificial intelligence to pinpoint inefficiencies and questionable spending. In place of political savviness, technical talent reigns.

“If you are a nerd who’s truly devoted to an area, it’s exciting to be at the leading edge of the deployment of that technology,” the source told The Epoch Times.

The source voiced opposition to the revelation of DOGE staffers’ personally identifiable information. Their names, ages, and even home addresses have been widely disseminated on Bluesky, a platform that has grown in popularity among many liberals and the left after Musk’s takeover of X led to the unbanning of many right-leaning voices and a change in the website’s culture.

The doxxing, the source said, “carries a whiff of the journalism of personal destruction that voters rejected at the ballot box.”

Musk’s takeover of X, then known as Twitter, came at a time of national tumult ahead of the 2024 presidential election; the SpaceX and Tesla Motors leader endorsed Trump after the first of two high-profile assassination attempts. He campaigned heavily for the candidate in battleground Pennsylvania, a state Trump ultimately won.

In the months before Election Day, Trump and Musk outlined to voters the DOGE vision, making it clear that Musk would spearhead a unique effort to make the government more efficient. [Link] Waste, fraud, and abuse—and, hanging above it all, massive national debt mostly driven by mandatory spending—have motivated the undertaking and, in some quarters, raised questions about just how much of a difference it can make.

Meanwhile, many Democrats have protested DOGE. They question the scope of Musk’s unelected role and allege that the organization has acted illegally.

Litigation has also stymied DOGE. One such legal dispute led to a temporary restraining order preventing DOGE workers from accessing Treasury Department data. A new lawsuit from 14 states challenges the constitutionality of Musk’s position.

One of the sources familiar with DOGE thinks the opposition is motivated in part by the sort of men at its helm. The source likened them to the generation of great scientists, engineers, and astronauts who took the U.S. to the moon.

“I think that outrage is perceived to be in bad faith,” the source said of the attitude in the White House’s Office of Personnel Management, which has helped coordinate DOGE’s work.