Payton Rehling
Tech Industry Links: Valor
Exited govt: 7/XX/25 (inferred)
Payton Rehling is a senior data engineer at Valor Equity Partners, the private equity firm that is run by Antonio Gracias and Jon Koval. Rehling joined the Social Security Administration DOGE team in February but has since been detailed to DHS and the DOJ, where he has likely been heavily involved in the administration’s efforts to create a surveillance system to supercharge immigration enforcement. In July 2025, he was promoted to a Vice President position at Valor, presumably as an exit from his DOGE work.
Positions
Appointed:
Offboarding:
Left govt 7/XX/25 (inferred)
Appointed:
Offboarding:
Left govt 7/XX/25 (inferred)
| Source: | Onboarding documentation at SSA for "Employee 9" Document Cloud, 4/09/25 |
| Source: | LinkedIn profile for Payton Rehling LinkedIn, |
Detailed To:
date unknown detailed from SSA
Internal Transfer:
date unknown internal xfer
Internal Transfer:
date unknown internal xfer
Offboarding:
Left govt 7/XX/25 (inferred)
Detailed To:
date unknown detailed from SSA
Internal Transfer:
date unknown internal xfer
Internal Transfer:
date unknown internal xfer
Offboarding:
Left govt 7/XX/25 (inferred)
| Source: | The People Carrying Out Musk’s Plans at DOGE The New York Times, 2/27/25 |
| Source: | The People Carrying Out Musk’s Plans at DOGE The New York Times, 2/27/25 |
| Source: | The People Carrying Out Musk’s Plans at DOGE The New York Times, 2/27/25 |
| Source: | Top DOGE Officials Moved From Social Security Administration to Justice Dept. The New York Times, 4/18/25 |
Events
2/23/25
Appointed:
Payton Rehling starts as Expert at SSA.
Appointed:
Payton Rehling starts as Expert at SSA.
| Appointed: | Payton Rehling 2/23/25-7/XX/25 |
| Position Title: | Expert, Office of the CIO |
| Salary: | Volunteer |
| Source: | Onboarding documentation at SSA for "Employee 9" Document Cloud, 4/09/25 |
| Source: | LinkedIn profile for Payton Rehling LinkedIn, |
Onboarding:
Social Security Administration onboards 3 more unidentified DOGE staffers – SSA-06 (Jon Koval), SSA-04 (Antonio Gracias), and SSA-09 (Payton Rehling) – as volunteers with the title of Expert.
Onboarding:
Social Security Administration onboards 3 more unidentified DOGE staffers – SSA-06 (Jon Koval), SSA-04 (Antonio Gracias), and SSA-09 (Payton Rehling) – as volunteers with the title of Expert.
| Person: | Antonio Gracias, Jon Koval, Payton Rehling |
| Source: | American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, AFL-CIO v. SSA, doc 121-5 Court Document, 4/09/25 |
| Agency: | SSA |
3/12/25
| Person: | Akash Bobba, Antonio Gracias, Aram Moghaddassi, Cole Killian, Ethan Shaotran, Jon Koval, Marko Elez, Nikhil Rajpal, Payton Rehling, Scott Coulter |
| Source: | AFL-CIO v. DOL, doc 53-1 Court Document, 3/13/25 |
| Agency: | SSA |
3/13/25
Identification:
Wired reports that 10 DOGE staffers are currently visible in the Microsoft Teams directory of all employees at SSA
Identification:
Wired reports that 10 DOGE staffers are currently visible in the Microsoft Teams directory of all employees at SSA
| Person: | Akash Bobba, Antonio Gracias, Cole Killian, Ethan Shaotran, Jon Koval, Luke Farritor, Marko Elez, Nikhil Rajpal, Payton Rehling, Scott Coulter |
| Source: | These Are the 10 DOGE Operatives Inside the Social Security Administration Wired Magazine, 3/13/25 |
| Agency: | SSA |
3/14/25
:
:
| System Access: | PSSNAP: Phone Social Security Number Application Process data |
| : | read-write, 3/14/25 Payton Rehling |
| Note: | SSN application process data (Phone). This is a data extract file rather than an independent system. |
| DOGE Project: | Fraud |
3/17/25
:
Payton Rehling is granted basic access to 3 systems at SSA.
:
Payton Rehling is granted basic access to 3 systems at SSA.
| System Access: | MBR: Master Beneficiary Record |
| : | read, 3/17/25 Payton Rehling |
| Note: | A large record of all individuals elgible to receive social security benefits |
| DOGE Project: | Immigration |
| System Access: | NUMIDENT: Numerical Identification System |
| : | read, 3/17/25 Payton Rehling |
| Note: | NUMIDENT files that have been extracted from SSA systems, these contain SSNs for everybody |
| DOGE Project: | Fraud, Impunity |
| System Access: | SSR: Supplemental Security Record master records |
| : | read, 3/17/25 Payton Rehling |
| Note: | A master record used by the SSA for the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program |
| DOGE Project: | Immigration |
3/19/25
System Access:
Leland Dudek approves access for “Employee 9” of the DOGE team at SSA to view some additional schemas in the PSSNAP database of Social Security Applications conducted over the phone.
System Access:
Leland Dudek approves access for “Employee 9” of the DOGE team at SSA to view some additional schemas in the PSSNAP database of Social Security Applications conducted over the phone.
| Person: | Payton Rehling |
| Source: | American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, AFL-CIO v. SSA, doc 121-3 Court Document, 4/09/25 |
| Agency: | SSA |
| DOGE Project: | Fraud |
3/25/25
:
Payton Rehling is granted basic access to 3 systems at USCIS.
:
Payton Rehling is granted basic access to 3 systems at USCIS.
| System Access: | CIS: Central Index System |
| : | unknown, 3/25/25 Payton Rehling |
| Note: | The CIS contains information about immigrants who use Alien Numbers, or A-Numbers. |
| System Access: | ELIS: Electronic Immigration System |
| : | unknown, 3/25/25 Payton Rehling |
| Note: | ELIS acts as a case management system for USCIS and includes information about green cards and petitions, as well as details related to Temporary Protected Status and DACA applicants |
| DOGE Project: | Immigration |
| System Access: | DBIS: USCIS Data Business Intelligence Services |
| : | unknown, 3/25/25 Payton Rehling |
| Note: | A system for tracking payments and business operations of USCIS |
| DOGE Project: | Spending |
Identification:
Tech staffers and contractors noticed a new DOGE staffer, Sahil Lavingia, was pushing code to a repo in the VA’s Github instance. He also appeared to be using an AI tool to write code. This later turns out to be code that is reviewing contracts to be terminated.
Identification:
Tech staffers and contractors noticed a new DOGE staffer, Sahil Lavingia, was pushing code to a repo in the VA’s Github instance. He also appeared to be using an AI tool to write code. This later turns out to be code that is reviewing contracts to be terminated.
| Person: | Cary Volpert, Christopher Roussos, Jon Koval, Justin Fulcher, Payton Rehling, Sahil Lavingia |
| Source: | Inside DOGE’s AI Push at the Department of Veterans Affairs Wired Magazine, 4/04/25 |
| Agency: | VA |
| DOGE Project: | IT Modernization, Spending |
3/27/25
System Access:
In a sworn declaration, Leland Dudek justifies access to PII in SSA records for SSA-01 (Akash Bobba), SSA-05 (Cole Killian), SSA-08 (Nikhil Rajpal) and SSA-09 (Payton Rehling) on the DOGE team. This access is granted through the SSA’s Enterprise Data Warehouse (EDW) system. He asserts that DOGE staff are being granted only the minimum levels of schema access required.
System Access:
In a sworn declaration, Leland Dudek justifies access to PII in SSA records for SSA-01 (Akash Bobba), SSA-05 (Cole Killian), SSA-08 (Nikhil Rajpal) and SSA-09 (Payton Rehling) on the DOGE team. This access is granted through the SSA’s Enterprise Data Warehouse (EDW) system. He asserts that DOGE staff are being granted only the minimum levels of schema access required.
| Person: | Akash Bobba, Cole Killian, Leland Dudek, Nikhil Rajpal, Payton Rehling |
| Source: | American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, AFL-CIO v. SSA, doc 62-1 Court Document, 3/27/25 |
| Agency: | SSA |
| DOGE Project: | Fraud |
3/28/25
System Access:
USCIS CIO William McElhaney sends a message to DHS Deputy Secretary asking them to review access that was granted to DOGE staffers Kyle Schutt, Edward Coristine, Aram Moghaddassi and Payton Rehling.
System Access:
USCIS CIO William McElhaney sends a message to DHS Deputy Secretary asking them to review access that was granted to DOGE staffers Kyle Schutt, Edward Coristine, Aram Moghaddassi and Payton Rehling.
| Person: | Aram Moghaddassi, Edward Coristine, Kyle Schutt, Payton Rehling |
| Source: | DOGE granted access to naturalization-related IT systems, memo shows FedScoop, 4/02/25 |
| Agency: | USCIS |
4/11/25
Identification:
Politico profiles a DOGE immigration task force that is located within DHS but has contacts with DOGE staff at other agencies. It includes multiple DOGE staffers detailed from various agencies.
Identification:
Politico profiles a DOGE immigration task force that is located within DHS but has contacts with DOGE staff at other agencies. It includes multiple DOGE staffers detailed from various agencies.
| Person: | Antonio Gracias, Aram Moghaddassi, Edward Coristine, Kyle Schutt, Marko Elez, Payton Rehling |
| Source: | Inside the DOGE immigration task force Politico, 4/11/25 |
| Agency: | DHS |
| DOGE Project: | Immigration |
4/15/25
Detailed To:
Detailed To:
| SSA? Detailed To: DOJ Payton Rehling 4/15/25 | |
| Source: | Top DOGE Officials Moved From Social Security Administration to Justice Dept. The New York Times, 4/18/25 |
4/21/25
:
:
| System Access: | ECAS: Executive Office for Immigration Review's Court and Appeals System |
| : | unknown, 4/21/25 Payton Rehling |
| Note: | A system used by DOJ for tracking the status of immigration cases |
| DOGE Project: | Immigration |
6/25/25
Oversight:
Democratic Congressman Mark Takano sends an angry letter to Secretary Collins of the VA demanding answers about DOGE activities including if they have installed spyware on agency machines, if they have been piloting AI, and if they have accessed medical records. He also asks for detailed information on DOGE staff at the agency.
Oversight:
Democratic Congressman Mark Takano sends an angry letter to Secretary Collins of the VA demanding answers about DOGE activities including if they have installed spyware on agency machines, if they have been piloting AI, and if they have accessed medical records. He also asks for detailed information on DOGE staff at the agency.
| Person: | Cary Volpert, Christopher Roussos, Jon Koval, Justin Fulcher, Payton Rehling, Sahil Lavingia |
| Source: | House Democrat demands VA disclose any spyware, AI installed on agency computers as part of DOGE initiative Stars and Stripes, 6/27/25 |
| Agency: | VA |
| DOGE Project: | IT Modernization, Anti-Personnel |
7/01/25
Offboarding:
In response to a letter from the American Federation of Teachers union to nine public pension funds who are investors, Valor Equity Partners confirms that Antonio Gracias was working for Valor the entire time he was in DOGE and also reports that he left DOGE on July 1st. It’s unclear what the status of other Valor employees embedded in DOGE, Jon Koval and Payton Rehling, are.
Offboarding:
In response to a letter from the American Federation of Teachers union to nine public pension funds who are investors, Valor Equity Partners confirms that Antonio Gracias was working for Valor the entire time he was in DOGE and also reports that he left DOGE on July 1st. It’s unclear what the status of other Valor employees embedded in DOGE, Jon Koval and Payton Rehling, are.
| Person: | Antonio Gracias, Jon Koval, Payton Rehling |
| Source: | High-ranking DOGE official and Elon Musk ally, Antonio Gracias, has left government NBC News, 7/24/25 |
| Agency: | SSA |
7/XX/25
Offboarding:
Offboarding:
| Appointed: | Payton Rehling 2/23/25-7/XX/25 |
| Position Title: | Expert, Office of the CIO |
| Salary: | Volunteer |
| Source: | Onboarding documentation at SSA for "Employee 9" Document Cloud, 4/09/25 |
| Source: | LinkedIn profile for Payton Rehling LinkedIn, |