DOGE staffer steps down after racist posts emerge

A 25-year-old engineer working for the Department of Government Efficiency (or DOGE) has stepped down over racist posts from an X account tied to him, The Wall Street Journal reports.

Marko Elez resigned after the WSJ asked the White House about his connection to an account and its since-deleted posts. In September 2024, the account posted “You could not pay me to marry outside of my ethnicity” and “Normalize Indian hate.” It also advocated a “eugenic immigration policy” in the weeks leading up to President Trump’s inauguration on January 20, 2025.

Elez had access to confidential federal payment records at the Treasury Department, WIRED reported on Tuesday. He previously worked at X and SpaceX — both companies owned by Elon Musk, DOGE’s creator.

DOGE has sent young engineers like Elez across the federal government to implement mass restructuring plans, raising security concerns about their access to sensitive data.