Although Elon Musk has said that he is largely exiting his role at the so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), at least three of his early operatives and key lieutenants throughout his government takeover have recently become full-time government employees.
Edward Coristine, Luke Farritor, and Ethan Shaotran’s employment designations at the General Services Administration (GSA) have been officially converted to full-time from the restricted special government employee classification that limited their time in government to a period of 130 days, according to documentation viewed by WIRED.
Coristine, who has gone by “Big Balls” online and previously worked for a telecommunications firm known for hiring former blackhat hackers, was converted to full time on May 31, along with Farritor. Shaotran became full time on April 10.
WIRED first reported in early February that Coristine, Farritor, and Shaotran were brought on by Musk’s DOGE. They then gained unprecedented access to government systems. Before joining DOGE, they had connections to Musk-owned companies: Farritor interned at SpaceX, Coristine worked at Neuralink for three months, and Shaotran participated in an xAI hackathon last October.
Since January, all three have obtained access to dozens of federal agencies in addition to GSA, including the Department of Health and Human Services, the Department of Education, the Department of Homeland Security, the Social Security Administration, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, and many others. They have also been tied to major changes to the federal government apparatus: Farritor was closely linked to the dismantling of the United States Agency for International Development, and Coristine has reportedly been one of the leaders of the initiative related to President Donald Trump’s “gold card” visas that are sold for $5 million.
It’s not immediately clear if the new designations affect their abilities to maintain access to other agencies outside of GSA.
Coristine, Farritor, and Shaotran, according to documentation viewed by WIRED, each maintain their “senior adviser” titles. Coristine and Farritor are drawing some of the largest salaries possible for government employees through the “General Schedule” employee rankings. They have a salary grade of GS-15, one of the highest grades, and Shaotran is one step below at GS-14. When they were special government employees, Coristine, Farritor, and Shaotran did not appear to be drawing salaries at all through GSA, WIRED reported in March.
Kyle Schutt, another early DOGE operative, has also appeared to change employment classification at least twice but currently seems to be listed as a special government employee in documentation seen by WIRED.
The White House and GSA did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Despite Musk’s apparent departure from the Trump administration last week, DOGE has shown no signs of pausing its work in government agencies. Last week, WIRED reported that there has been a renewed urgency for DOGE-style work at agencies including the Office of Personnel Management, US Department of Agriculture, the Department of Labor, and the Department of the Interior. Federal workers told WIRED they were asked to quickly review and potentially slash contracts, especially those pertaining to IT and human resources.
Farritor and Coristine, along with other members of Musk’s early DOGE team like Sam Corcos and Gavin Kliger, have met with a number of departments in recent days, while new DOGE affiliates have been detailed to different agencies.
DOGE, WIRED reported, also appears to be actively recruiting.
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