DOGE Staffer Resigns After Racist and Eugenic Posts Exposed: A Scandal in Elon Musk’s Government Efficiency Task Force

In a shocking turn of events, Marko Elez, a key staffer in Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), resigned on February 6, 2025, after his racist and eugenic social media posts were uncovered. The controversy has cast a shadow over DOGE’s mission to streamline federal spending and raised serious questions about the vetting process for individuals granted access to sensitive government systems.

The Resignation and Its Immediate Fallout

Marko Elez, a 25-year-old software engineer, was one of two DOGE staffers embedded in the U.S. Treasury Department with access to its payment systems, which process trillions of dollars annually. His resignation came hours after The Wall Street Journal exposed a series of inflammatory posts from a now-deleted X (formerly Twitter) account linked to him. The posts included statements advocating racism, eugenics, and hostility toward Indian tech workers, sparking widespread outrage.

Among the most alarming posts were:
- “Just for the record, I was racist before it was cool” (July 2024).
- “You could not pay me to marry outside of my ethnicity” (September 2024).
- “Normalize Indian hate” (September 2024).
- “99% of Indian H1Bs will be replaced by slightly smarter LLMs, they’re going back don’t worry guys” (December 2024).
- “I just want a eugenic immigration policy, is that too much to ask?” (December 2024).

These posts, archived by the Internet Archive’s Wayback Machine, were independently verified by NPR and other outlets, leaving no doubt about their authenticity.

DOGE’s Access to Sensitive Treasury Systems

Elez’s role in DOGE had already raised eyebrows due to his access to the Treasury Department’s payment systems, which handle critical financial operations, including Social Security, Medicare, and tax refunds. Critics questioned whether such access was appropriate for a temporary appointee with ties to Elon Musk, a private billionaire with no formal government role.

A federal judge had recently ruled that Elez and his colleague, Tom Krause, could retain “read-only” access to the Treasury systems, but with strict restrictions on data sharing. This ruling followed a lawsuit by federal employee unions and retiree advocacy groups, who accused the Treasury of violating privacy laws by granting DOGE access to sensitive taxpayer information.

Despite assurances from Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent that DOGE’s activities were “methodical” and aimed at cutting waste, the resignation of Elez has intensified scrutiny of the agency’s operations. Bessent defended the DOGE team as “highly trained professionals,” but lawmakers and legal experts remain unconvinced.

The Broader Implications of the Scandal

The exposure of Elez’s racist and eugenic views has broader implications for DOGE and its mission. Eugenic ideologies, which advocate selective breeding to improve the human population, have long been discredited due to their association with discriminatory and inhumane practices. The fact that a DOGE staffer openly endorsed such views has raised questions about the agency’s culture and priorities.

Moreover, the scandal has highlighted the growing influence of young, tech-savvy individuals with extremist ideologies in government and corporate settings. Political analyst John Ganz described this trend as the “groyperfication” of conservative staffers, referring to an online culture where young right-wingers embrace racist and eugenic rhetoric.

Reactions from Lawmakers and the Public

The resignation has sparked a fierce backlash from lawmakers, particularly Democrats, who have long been critical of DOGE’s unchecked authority. Senator Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) condemned the agency as an “unelected shadow government” and accused it of conducting a “hostile takeover of the federal government”.

Representative Don Beyer (D-Va.) called the incident a “scandal,” emphasizing that Elez’s access to the Treasury’s payment systems posed a significant risk to Americans’ privacy and financial security. “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,” Beyer stated.

In response to the controversy, Senate Democrats introduced the “Stop the Steal Act,” which aims to prevent DOGE from accessing sensitive government data without proper oversight. The bill reflects growing concerns about the agency’s lack of transparency and accountability.