wow....
‘No, I’m not kidding’: Elon Musk gives 23-year-old DOGE worker IT system access to department that manages U.S. nuclear arsenal
Elon Musk has given a 23-year-old DOGE employee access to the Energy Department’s IT systems despite alleged pushback from the department, which oversees the country’s nuclear weapon arsenal.
Since Donald Trump’s inauguration, Musk has relentlessly pushed himself and his so-called DOGE into every corner of the government. He forced his way into sensitive government information from USAID,
putting the agency’s security chiefs on leave to do so. Additionally, he gained access to federal pay systems in the Treasury and
student loan systems in the Department of Education, including the personal information of millions of Americans and students. It’s highly unusual for someone who is not part of an official government agency and who has not been elected to a cabinet position to gain the level of access to sensitive information that Musk has seized. Even more concerning is that Musk’s 19 – 26 year-old DOGE employees are accessing this information, too.
Musk has been suspiciously secretive about his DOGE employees, refusing to release many of their names and qualifications for their positions. There are concerns about how, or even if, he’s vetting these candidates. Given that one
DOGE employee has already resigned after promoting racism and eugenics, Americans have reason to be concerned with
who exactly Musk is giving access to classified government information, especially since they could potentially access information relating to nuclear weapons.
Elon Musk gives DOGE employee access to Energy Department’s IT systems
There is no evidence that DOGE employees have access to nuclear secrets or information, but they may be getting uncomfortably close to that information.
As reported by CNN, DOGE recently accessed the Energy Department’s IT systems. 23-year-old DOGE employee Luke Farritor, a former SpaceX intern, was granted access to the systems by Energy Secretary Chris Wright. However, two sources told
CNN that the move was opposed by those within the department, including its “general counsel and chief information offices.”
Among its many functions, the Energy Department manages the nation’s nuclear stockpile through the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA). Meanwhile,
CNN‘s sources alleged that Farritor hadn’t received a standard background check and was not cleared to be in the department’s systems. TikTok reporter
Aaron Parnas also shared the news of the 23-year-old’s access and had to remind viewers, “No, I’m not kidding.”
DOGE’s presence isn’t the only change in the Department of Energy. Energy CIO Dawn Zimmer was also quietly removed from her role and replaced with an engineer from Musk’s company, SpaceX. As of now, though, DOGE doesn’t appear to have significant access, as
CNN reports Farritor gained only basic access to e-mail and Microsoft 365.
Secretary Wright also disputed claims that Farritor wasn’t given a background check, insisting he knew precisely who the DOGE employees were and what they were doing.
Yet, the news hasn’t painted a positive picture of the vetting process at DOGE. In addition to Elez’s racist Tweets,
Bloomberg reported that another DOGE employee, 19-year-old Edward Coristine, was previously fired from a cyber firm for allegedly leaking internal information to a competitor. One would think a basic background check would have caught this detail and rendered Coristine ineligible to work in a position where he’s accessing sensitive government information. These reports make it even more concerning that DOGE is getting dangerously close to nuclear information and seems interested in expanding its access to every department and system.
