Rachel Riley
Rachel Riley has been heavily involved in DOGE’s operations within HHS, where she has worked very closely with Brad Smith, and she has been granted access to a wide range of databases for tracking contracts and operations. Before DOGE, she worked for McKinsey and Associates in government policy in Atlanta, which would place her in good proximity to the CDC. In September, she pushed for a massive wave of firings at HHS that were eventually overruled, with Rachel herself apparently ousted by the end of October. However, it seems like is being placed over the office of naval research as a reward, despite her lack of experience with the navy.
Positions
| Position | Notes |
|---|---|
| HHS |
Sources
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| NSF |
Source
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| DOD |
Source
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Systems
| System | Notes |
|---|---|
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CALM
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Source
System for tracking CMS acquisitions, contracts, milestones and audits. read access granted by CIO |
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EHCM
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Source
This system is used at HHS for managing all aspects of human-capital related tasks, including staffing notes and performance plans. read access granted by CIO |
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HCAS
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Source
This appears to be a system used at HHS for tracking acquisition and procurement efforts across the agency. admin access granted by Deputy Director |
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FBIS
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Source
A system for tracking business operations at HHS read access granted by Deputy Director «not granted access to view PII data» |
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BIIS
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Source
Used to track expenditures at HHS read access granted by CIO |
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Grant Solutions
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Source
A shared-service provider tool for federal agencies to track grants across their entire lifecycles read access granted by Deputy Director |
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EBS
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Source
Oracle E-Business Suite is a comprehensive suite of applications for finance, order management, logistics, procurement, projects, manufacturing, asset lifecycle, and human capital management. read access granted by CIO |
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PRISM
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Source
System for tracking procurement and contracting read access granted by CIO |
Events
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
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1/12/25
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Source
Directory
A New York Times report on DOGE from just before the Inauguration roughly describes the working arrangements for embedding some staff and detailing others as well as some early participants in the project
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1/24/25
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Source
Directory
A report from Business Insider names some of the DOGE staffers who were involved in transition activities and provides an early snapshot of who is in DOGE.
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2/03/25
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Source
Access
Multiple DOGE staff (Luke Farritor, Rachel Riley, Conor Fennessy and Jeremy Lewin) at CMS are granted read-only access to the CMS Acquisition Lifestye Management System (CALM) which tracks CMS aquisitions and contracts.
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2/14/25
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Source
Action
Rachel Riley conducts a “Planning Touch Base” meeting with senior leadership at CMS.
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2/21/25
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Source
Interagency
Several DOGE staff at HHS and DOI are involved in a large meeting related to a contract with the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) within HHS. Among other systems, this office maintains the Unaccompanied Children Portal, which was of interest to DOGE’s immigration focus.
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2/24/25
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Source
Access
Three DOGE staffers – Luke Farritor, Rachel Riley and Clark Minor – are listed as part of the NIH Business System Department. This would grant them access to NIH’s central electronic business system, which includes finance, budget, procurement, a property-management system, and a grant-tracking system
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2/24/25
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Source
Directory
Four DOGE staffers are indentified with email addresses linked to NIH. These are Luke Farritor, Rachel Riley, Jeremy Lewin and Clark Minor.
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3/13/25
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Source
Directory
As later reported in a declaration in AFL-CIO et al. vs. Department of Labor, HHS employee Mark Samburg finds DOGE staff at the agency listed in an online directory as Executive Engineers (and Rachel Riley as a Senior Advisor).
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3/31/25
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Source
Report
Politico reports that Brad Smith, who crafted the plan to layoff 10,000 staffers within HHS, is facing criticism from other DOGE staffers for attempting to shield CMS from the brunt of the layoffs. His aide, Rachel Riley is accused of being extraordinarily secretive with the plan.
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4/14/25
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Source
Sighting
Three unidentified DOGE staffers show up at NSF headquarters, forcing all approved grants to go through a “secondary review.” They were later identified as Luke Farritor, Rachel Riley and Zach Terrell.
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4/22/25
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Source
Directory
Three DOGE staffers are now at the National Science Foundation reviewing grants. Luke Farritor has a “Budget, Finance, and Administration” clearance, which a source said allows him to view and modify the agency’s funding opportunity system.
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5/14/25
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Source
Disruption
After rescinding 300 past layoffs, the head of human resources at CDC emails Rachel Riley to share that the plan going forward will be to fire one person for every singer person who returns to the agency.
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9/30/25
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Sources
Disruption
The day before the beginning of the 2025 federal government shutdown, HHS proposes eliminating 8,000 jobs at the suggestion of Russell Vought, who wants to use the shutdown to inflict pain. HHS eventually lays off 1760 positions on October 10th, but was later revised to 954 after HHS blamed a coding error for firing too many people. Initially, HHS refuses to identify the creator for the layoff proposal within HHS, but it’s eventually revealed to be Rachel Riley.
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10/28/25?
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Source
Onboard
The Navy removes the head of the Office of Naval Research and places Rachel Riley in the role, despite the fact that she has no experience with the Navy. She was working on DOGE operations within HHS and her prior experience was with McKinsey.
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