Department of Transportation
subagencies: FAA
DOGE became embedded early at the DOT, due to criticism of the FAA in the wake of a deadly air collision outside of National Airport. While Secretary Sean Duffy had been an early advocate of DOGE, recent reports described him as screaming at Elon Musk about the damage caused by DOGE’s rampant firing of probationary workers and pushing the Fork in the Road. An already understaffed cohort of air-traffic controllers has been pushed to the breaking point, and it’s DOGE’s fault. Meanwhile, potential interference to redirect a communications contract to Starlink has astounded ethics experts for its audacity.
People
Information: Click items to expand
Appointed:
2/XX/25 Senior Advisor $185,000 «start date unknown but ProPublica says “early February”»
Appointed:
2/XX/25 Senior Advisor $185,000 «start date unknown but ProPublica says “early February”»
| Source: | Data Reveals Details About DOGE, Government Hiring in 2025 Bloomberg, 1/09/26 |
| Source: | DOGE assembles a legal army Politico, 3/26/25 |
Appointed:
2/16/25-6/02/25 Senior Advisor NTE 2/20/25
Offboarding:
Left govt 6/02/25 (reported)
Appointed:
2/16/25-6/02/25 Senior Advisor NTE 2/20/25
Offboarding:
Left govt 6/02/25 (reported)
| Source: | A diminished DOGE reels from the departure of the ‘Dogefather,’ Elon Musk The Washington Post, 6/08/25 |
Appointed:
2/16/25-6/02/25 Senior Advisor NTE 2/20/25
Offboarding:
Left govt 6/02/25 (reported)
Appointed:
2/16/25-6/02/25 Senior Advisor NTE 2/20/25
Offboarding:
Left govt 6/02/25 (reported)
| Source: | A diminished DOGE reels from the departure of the ‘Dogefather,’ Elon Musk The Washington Post, 6/08/25 |
Appointed:
2/16/25-6/02/25 Senior Advisor NTE 2/20/25
Offboarding:
Left govt 6/02/25 (reported)
Appointed:
2/16/25-6/02/25 Senior Advisor NTE 2/20/25
Offboarding:
Left govt 6/02/25 (reported)
| Source: | A diminished DOGE reels from the departure of the ‘Dogefather,’ Elon Musk The Washington Post, 6/08/25 |
Appointed:
2/16/25-6/02/25 Senior Advisor NTE 2/20/25
Offboarding:
Left govt 6/02/25 (reported)
Appointed:
2/16/25-6/02/25 Senior Advisor NTE 2/20/25
Offboarding:
Left govt 6/02/25 (reported)
| Source: | A diminished DOGE reels from the departure of the ‘Dogefather,’ Elon Musk The Washington Post, 6/08/25 |
Appointed:
3/XX/25-8/XX/25 Senior Advisor to the Secretary $195,197
Offboarding:
Left govt 8/XX/25 (reported)
Appointed:
3/XX/25-8/XX/25 Senior Advisor to the Secretary $195,197
Offboarding:
Left govt 8/XX/25 (reported)
| Source: | Elon Musk’s Demolition Crew Pro Publica Projects, |
| Source: | Data Reveals Details About DOGE, Government Hiring in 2025 Bloomberg, 1/09/26 |
| Source: | LinkedIn profile for Brian Stube LinkedIn, |
Appointed:
date unknown «Reportedly reviewing DOT grants to cancel»
Appointed:
date unknown «Reportedly reviewing DOT grants to cancel»
| Source: | Elon Musk’s Demolition Crew Pro Publica Projects, |
Events
2/05/25
Report:
Elon Musk promises that DOGE will make rapid upgrades to airline systems after outage of NOTAM alerting system occur.
Report:
Elon Musk promises that DOGE will make rapid upgrades to airline systems after outage of NOTAM alerting system occur.
| Source: | Elon Musk Says His Efficiency Team Will Tackle F.A.A. Technology The New York Times, 2/05/25 |
| Agency: | FAA |
2/10/25
Official Action:
The NOTAM system at the FAA has its name changed from Notice to Air Missions back to its original name of Notice to Airmen.
Official Action:
The NOTAM system at the FAA has its name changed from Notice to Air Missions back to its original name of Notice to Airmen.
| Source: | What is a NOTAM? Federal Aviation Authority, |
| Agency: | FAA |
2/16/25
Appointed:
Appointed:
| Appointed: | Brady Glantz 2/16/25-6/02/25 |
| Position Title: | Senior Advisor, Office of the Administrator |
| Source: | A diminished DOGE reels from the departure of the ‘Dogefather,’ Elon Musk The Washington Post, 6/08/25 |
| Appointed: | Thomas Kiernan 2/16/25-6/02/25 |
| Position Title: | Senior Advisor, Office of the Administrator |
| Source: | A diminished DOGE reels from the departure of the ‘Dogefather,’ Elon Musk The Washington Post, 6/08/25 |
| Appointed: | Ted Malaska 2/16/25-6/02/25 |
| Position Title: | Senior Advisor, Office of the Administrator |
| Source: | A diminished DOGE reels from the departure of the ‘Dogefather,’ Elon Musk The Washington Post, 6/08/25 |
| Appointed: | Sam Smeal 2/16/25-6/02/25 |
| Position Title: | Senior Advisor, Office of the Administrator |
| Source: | A diminished DOGE reels from the departure of the ‘Dogefather,’ Elon Musk The Washington Post, 6/08/25 |
2/17/25
Identification:
Four SpaceX engineers at FAA are granted ethics waivers and designated as Special Government Employees, but must recuse from decisions affecting SpaceX.
Identification:
Four SpaceX engineers at FAA are granted ethics waivers and designated as Special Government Employees, but must recuse from decisions affecting SpaceX.
| Person: | Brady Glantz, Sam Smeal, Ted Malaska, Thomas Kiernan |
| Source: | How Elon Musk Muscled His Way Into the FAA Bloomberg, 3/05/25 |
| Agency: | FAA |
2/18/25
Disruption:
DOGE staffer Ted Malaska (one of the 4 detailed from SpaceX) declares that SpaceX is the only company able to complete a communications network contract already awarded to Verizon. He also threatens to report the names of anybody blocking his work directly to Musk.
Disruption:
DOGE staffer Ted Malaska (one of the 4 detailed from SpaceX) declares that SpaceX is the only company able to complete a communications network contract already awarded to Verizon. He also threatens to report the names of anybody blocking his work directly to Musk.
| Person: | Ted Malaska |
| Source: | How Elon Musk Muscled His Way Into the FAA Bloomberg, 3/05/25 |
| Agency: | FAA |
| DOGE Project: | Impunity |
2/19/25
Interagency Coordination:
A staffer at the EOP emails DOGE staff to take part in a webinar about the National Environmental Policy Act.
Interagency Coordination:
A staffer at the EOP emails DOGE staff to take part in a webinar about the National Environmental Policy Act.
| Person: | Daniel Abrahamson, Katrine Trampe, Tyler Hassen |
| Source: | Second Production of FOIA materials from DOI to Sierra Club The Sierra Club, 2/27/26 |
| Agency: | DOI, DOT, EOP |
| DOGE Project: | Deregulation |
2/XX/25
Appointed:
Daniel Abrahamson starts as Senior Advisor at DOT.
Appointed:
Daniel Abrahamson starts as Senior Advisor at DOT.
| Appointed: | Daniel Abrahamson 2/XX/25 |
| Position Title: | Senior Advisor, Office of the Secretary of Transportation |
| Salary: | $185,000 |
| Source: | Data Reveals Details About DOGE, Government Hiring in 2025 Bloomberg, 1/09/26 |
| Source: | DOGE assembles a legal army Politico, 3/26/25 |
| Note: | start date unknown but ProPublica says "early February" |
3/XX/25
Appointed:
Brian Stube starts as Senior Advisor to the Secretary at DOT.
Appointed:
Brian Stube starts as Senior Advisor to the Secretary at DOT.
| Appointed: | Brian Stube 3/XX/25-8/XX/25 |
| Position Title: | Senior Advisor to the Secretary, Office of the Secretary |
| Salary: | $195,197 |
| Source: | Elon Musk’s Demolition Crew Pro Publica Projects, |
| Source: | Data Reveals Details About DOGE, Government Hiring in 2025 Bloomberg, 1/09/26 |
| Source: | LinkedIn profile for Brian Stube LinkedIn, |
4/11/25
Disruption:
Luke Farritor uses his admin access to lock out all government officials at multiple agencies from using grants.gov to issue new grants. Instead, all grants must now be sent to a new email address which will be reviewed by DOGE staffers before grants can be posted.
Disruption:
Luke Farritor uses his admin access to lock out all government officials at multiple agencies from using grants.gov to issue new grants. Instead, all grants must now be sent to a new email address which will be reviewed by DOGE staffers before grants can be posted.
4/25/25
| Person: | Brady Glantz, Sam Smeal, Ted Malaska, Thomas Kiernan |
| Source: | Musk Allies Made FAA Staff Sign NDAs to Keep New Project Secret Rolling Stone, 4/25/25 |
| Agency: | FAA |
| DOGE Project: | Impunity |
6/02/25
Offboarding:
Offboarding:
| Appointed: | Brady Glantz 2/16/25-6/02/25 |
| Position Title: | Senior Advisor, Office of the Administrator |
| Source: | A diminished DOGE reels from the departure of the ‘Dogefather,’ Elon Musk The Washington Post, 6/08/25 |
Offboarding:
Offboarding:
| Appointed: | Thomas Kiernan 2/16/25-6/02/25 |
| Position Title: | Senior Advisor, Office of the Administrator |
| Source: | A diminished DOGE reels from the departure of the ‘Dogefather,’ Elon Musk The Washington Post, 6/08/25 |
Offboarding:
Offboarding:
| Appointed: | Ted Malaska 2/16/25-6/02/25 |
| Position Title: | Senior Advisor, Office of the Administrator |
| Source: | A diminished DOGE reels from the departure of the ‘Dogefather,’ Elon Musk The Washington Post, 6/08/25 |
| Appointed: | Sam Smeal 2/16/25-6/02/25 |
| Position Title: | Senior Advisor, Office of the Administrator |
| Source: | A diminished DOGE reels from the departure of the ‘Dogefather,’ Elon Musk The Washington Post, 6/08/25 |
Offboarding:
In the wake of Elon Musk’s exit from DOGE, the four SpaceX engineers that have been working secretly in the FAA – Ted Malaska, Sam Smeal, Thomas Kiernan and Brady Glantz – are all immediately removed from the agency. The Post reports that some agency staff went for post-work drinks to celebrate the banishment of the DOGE team.
Offboarding:
In the wake of Elon Musk’s exit from DOGE, the four SpaceX engineers that have been working secretly in the FAA – Ted Malaska, Sam Smeal, Thomas Kiernan and Brady Glantz – are all immediately removed from the agency. The Post reports that some agency staff went for post-work drinks to celebrate the banishment of the DOGE team.
| Person: | Brady Glantz, Sam Smeal, Ted Malaska, Thomas Kiernan |
| Source: | A diminished DOGE reels from the departure of the ‘Dogefather,’ Elon Musk The Washington Post, 6/08/25 |
| Agency: | FAA |
6/26/25
Official Action:
In an email to agency partners, the operators of grants.gov declare that the revised mechanism added in April that routed all Notices of Funding Opportunities (NOFOs) through a DOGE email address has been reversed. Instead, agencies are to return to using the tool like that did previously. This doesn’t necessarily mean that DOGE or political appointees will not be reviewing grants, but they have no longer locked other users out of the system.
Official Action:
In an email to agency partners, the operators of grants.gov declare that the revised mechanism added in April that routed all Notices of Funding Opportunities (NOFOs) through a DOGE email address has been reversed. Instead, agencies are to return to using the tool like that did previously. This doesn’t necessarily mean that DOGE or political appointees will not be reviewing grants, but they have no longer locked other users out of the system.
8/XX/25
Offboarding:
Offboarding:
| Appointed: | Brian Stube 3/XX/25-8/XX/25 |
| Position Title: | Senior Advisor to the Secretary, Office of the Secretary |
| Salary: | $195,197 |
| Source: | Elon Musk’s Demolition Crew Pro Publica Projects, |
| Source: | Data Reveals Details About DOGE, Government Hiring in 2025 Bloomberg, 1/09/26 |
| Source: | LinkedIn profile for Brian Stube LinkedIn, |