Enablers in DOGE
This page provides details on the staff at DOGE that I have identified as Enablers.
Frank Bisignano
Only recently appointed to the head of the Social Security Administration (SSA), Frank Bisignano has admitted to some back-channel coordination the DOGE-affiliated CIO Mike Russo, but he denies that he secretly gave direction to the DOGE team before his nomination was confirmed.
Events
Agency | Date | Event |
---|---|---|
3/26
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Disruption:
During his confirmation hearing, Frank Bisignano, the nominee to run the agency, confirms that he had coordinated with Michael Russo but denied a whistleblower report that he had ordered the appointment of DOGE staff there
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5/06
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Official:
Frank Bisignano is confirmed by the Senate as Commissioner of the Social Security Administration
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Sam Corcos
Positions
Position | Notes |
---|---|
2/28-c.5/06 |
consultant Senior Advisor for Technology and Modernization (SGE, volunteer) «Start date inferred and likely earlier.» docs: directory (replaced with new role) Wash. Post |
c.5/06- |
promoted to Chief Information Officer «Date is approximate per reports. Will update as new details emerge.» FedScoop |
Events
Agency | Date | Event |
---|---|---|
2/28
|
Official:
Gavin Kliger and Sam Corcos, DOGE representatives embedded at the IRS, on Friday asked IRS lawyers to assist in creating an "omnibus" agreement with other federal agencies that would allow a broad swath of federal officials to cross-reference benefits rolls with taxpayer data
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4/08
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4/10
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4/11
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5/26
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Scott Coulter
Scott Coulter started his work for DOGE as a wrecker based in Social Security and detailed to NASA, but when Mike Russo was abruptly demoted as the CIO for Social Security, Scott stepped up into the role.
Positions
Position | Notes |
---|---|
2/18-3/23 |
[as SSA-02] detail (NTE 2026-02-18, reimbursed hourly, maximum of $120,579) docs: MOU, onboard (replaced with new role) |
3/24- |
[as SSA-02] appointed Chief Information Officer (supervisory) docs: onboard |
Events
Agency | Date | Event |
---|---|---|
1/30
|
Interagency:
Leland Dudek reaches out to Tiffany Flick, the Associate Director of Budget, Facilities and Security to inform her two DOGE staff would be onboarding. He was a mid-level employee at the time.
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3/12
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3/13
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Directory:
Wired reports that 10 DOGE staffers are visible in the Microsoft Teams directory of all employees at SSA
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3/14
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Directory:
A Business Insider article reports that Alexander Simonpour has shown up at NASA and also has a GSA address (meaning he was likely detailed from the GSA). Riley Sennott and Scott Coulter also are listed
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3/14
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Access:
ProPublica reports that DOGE detailee at NASA Scott Coulter has "wide access to internal databases at NASA"
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4/08
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Oversight:
A letter from Democrats on the House Committee of Science, Space, and Technology expresses specific concern about the lack of qualifications of DOGE staff at the agency and explicitly names Scott Coulter, Riley Sennott and Alexander Simonpour.
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4/08
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Access:
Aram Moghaddassi adds 6300 names of suspected immigrants to the "death master file" as a way of forcing them to "self-deport" by making it impossible to use financial products. It included 7 minors.
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4/10
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Access:
102 more names of living people are added to the Master Death File at SSA to destroy their ability to participate in socierty
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4/10
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Disruption:
Greg Pearre, a senior career executive overseeing technologists at the SSA, is forced out of his office by security guards after clashing with CIO Scott Coulter and calling his plan to declare immigrants dead illegal and cruel
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Leland Dudek
DOGE is only able to subvert agencies when it has the explicit cooperation and support of senior leadership there. Nobody better exemplifies than Leland Dudek, who was a relatively minor supervisor within Social Security before he was placed on leave for insubordination by giving DOGE access without authorization. Soon, he was rewarded for his defiance by being named Acting Commissioner for the agency after the Trump administration fired the existing commissioner. Once elevated into that spot, he used all his powers to prioritize access for DOGE staff until a federal judge finally ordered him to stop.
Positions
Position | Notes |
---|---|
2/16-5/06 |
promoted to Acting Commissioner (supervisory) (Ended) Wash. Post |
5/06- |
demoted «Replaced by Bisignano as confirmed commissioner» AP |
Events
Agency | Date | Event |
---|---|---|
1/30
|
Interagency:
Leland Dudek reaches out to Tiffany Flick, the Associate Director of Budget, Facilities and Security to inform her two DOGE staff would be onboarding. He was a mid-level employee at the time.
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2/10
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Sighting:
CIO Mike Russo convenes his own internal informational group in SSA, has conversations with other agencies about data sharing, does not inform acting SSA Director, Michelle King
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2/14
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Official:
Leland Dudek is placed on administrative leave while under investigation that he committed inappropriate actions to help DOGE
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2/16
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Disruption:
The acting director of the Social Security Administration, Michelle King, receives an email from the White House that Dudek is now the Acting Commissioner.
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2/19
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Official:
SSA CIO Mike Russo emails Leland Dudek request access to EDW for several "members of [his] team" for Numident, Master Beneficiary Record (MBR) and Supplemental Security Record (SSR) master records, as well as copies of SSA payment files that SSA transmits to the Department of the Treasury, Bureau of the Fiscal Service (BFS) for payment
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2/20
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2/28
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Official:
Via email, "Employee 5" of the DOGE team at SSA requests and receives approval from Leland Dudek to run a program to identify unrealistically old people in the SSA database
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3/04
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3/20
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Disruption:
Leland Dudek threatens to shut down the entire Social Security Administration instead of complying with the order
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3/26
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Disruption:
During his confirmation hearing, Frank Bisignano, the nominee to run the agency, confirms that he had coordinated with Michael Russo but denied a whistleblower report that he had ordered the appointment of DOGE staff there
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3/27
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Access:
In a sworn declaration, Leland Dudek justifies access to PII in SSA records for Employee 1, Employee 5, Employee 8 and Employee 9 on the DOGE team. This access is through the SSA's Enterprise Data Warehouse (EDW) system. He claims DOGE staff are being granted only the minimum levels of schema access required.
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4/07
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Interagency:
After some qualms about its legality, Leland Dudek signs two memos authorizing sharing data that would allow DHS and ICE to locate immigrants
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Stephen Ehikian
Events
Agency | Date | Event |
---|---|---|
1/30
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3/20
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3/25
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Interagency:
Nate Cavanaugh contacts the administrator of the GSA to propose transferring the USIP building to them, arguing that USIP won't need a building because the statute doesn't mandate it has one or staffing
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4/08
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Charles Ezell
Systems
System | Details |
---|---|
website
1/20-
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Agency Website
unknown access [listed as grant for “Web Admin” on 1/20. Not revoked as of 2/12] This is a stand-in for whatever website platform an agency is using (OPM) court doc |
STAMP
1/24-
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STAMP
unknown access This is a system at OPM that I do not have information about yet (OPM) court doc |
Events
Agency | Date | Event |
---|---|---|
1/20
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Disruption:
Acting OPM Director Charles Ezell replaces existing CIO Melvin Brown with Greg Hogan in an acting capacity
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1/31
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2/12
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Directory:
In a FOIA request, Democracy Forward names DOGE staff known to be at OPM at that time in their list of officials to FOIA communications for
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3/24
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Josh Gruenbaum
Positions
Position | Notes |
---|---|
1/24- |
appointed Federal Acquisition Service Commissioner (supervisory) |
Tyler Hassen
As a Texas oil executive with myriad investments in the field, it’s clear why Tyler Hassen would want a senior role in the Department of the Interior, even though his personal connection to Musk’s orbit is unknown. At DOI, Hassen has been promoted into increasingly senior roles and responsibilities while being shunted into positions that do not require Senate confirmation or for him to address his vast conflicts of interest.
Positions
Position | Notes |
---|---|
c.1/27-3/07 |
appointed «AP reports in DOI in January, inferring before water pump stunt» (replaced with new role) AP |
3/07-4/XX |
promoted to Acting Assistant Secretary of Policy, Management and Budget (supervisory) «ended with title change to Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary» (replaced with new role) E&E News |
4/XX- |
promoted (supervisory) «title change allows him to avoid Senate approval/ethics rules; date of change unclear» AP |
Events
Agency | Date | Event |
---|---|---|
1/28
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2/24
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Access:
Stephanie Holmes requests full admin access to the FPPS system to process actions for herself as well as DOGE members Katrine Trampe and Tyler Hassen
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3/28
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Disruption:
Tyler Hassen places the CIO and CISO at the Department of the Interior on admininstrative leave under investigation for raising alarm about DOGE access
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4/17
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Disruption:
The Washington Posts reports that both Tyler Hassen and Matt Luby are scrutinizing all grants at the Department of the Interior. They also requested a list of all grants going to Maine, perhaps to punish the state for its governor's defiance of Trump.
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4/17
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Official:
The Secretary of the Interior formally designates that Tyler Hassen is in charge of implementing cuts to the agency and reorganizing its responsibilities
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Greg Hogan
It’s not surprising that there are reports that OPM has been training AI models with information on government personnel. Greg Hogan, the agency’s CIO, previously worked for an AI company that was backed Marc Andreesen’s firm Andreesen Horowitz.
Positions
Position | Notes |
---|---|
1/20-1/20 |
appointed Senior Advisor to the Director for Technology and Delivery, Office of the Director (SES Noncareer, ES-00, supervisory, $195,200) «ended by promotion to CIO» docs: directory, onboard (replaced with new role) |
1/20-2/11 |
promoted to Acting Chief Information Officer (ES-00, supervisory, $195,200) «testified he started as Senior Advisor but was made Acting CIO same day. Made permanent CIO on 2/11» (replaced with new role) court doc |
2/11- |
promoted to Chief Information Officer, Office of the Director (SES Noncareer, ES-00, supervisory, $195,200) docs: directory, onboard |
Systems
System | Details |
---|---|
website
1/20-
|
Agency Website
unknown access [listed as grant for “Web Admin” on 1/20. Not revoked as of 2/12] This is a stand-in for whatever website platform an agency is using (OPM) court doc |
github
1/20-
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GitHub
unknown access [Github Enterprise] A service owned by Microsoft for developers to run version control on their applications and back them up to shared repositories that can be used by other developers. Github is provided as both a hosted service (at github.com) or via versions that can be installed with agency data centers (aka GitHub Enterprise or GHE). Access to Github would be expected for developers, but doesn’t necessarily mean the person is a coder. (OPM) court doc |
Events
Agency | Date | Event |
---|---|---|
1/20
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Disruption:
Acting OPM Director Charles Ezell replaces existing CIO Melvin Brown with Greg Hogan in an acting capacity
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2/12
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Directory:
In a FOIA request, Democracy Forward names DOGE staff known to be at OPM at that time in their list of officials to FOIA communications for
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3/24
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5/30
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Legal:
The judge in _AFL-CIO vs. OPM_ examined Greg Hogan on the stand and asked if he had followed the principle of least privilege in awarding access to DOGE. She seemed to be leaning towards a issuing a preliminary injunction against DOGE's "chaotic" access to systems at OPM.
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Open Questions
- Why do I have a report that Greg Hogan was named the CIO on 2025-01-20, but my documents only date that promotion from mid-February?
Nicole Hollander
Nicole Hollander is married to fellow DOGE operative and ad hoc leader Steve Davis, and she has worked with Elon Musk at Twitter. She has reportedly been involved with securing an enclave for DOGE to work from and live within GSA HQ (complete with laundry facilities). She also has been involved with efforts to cancel GSA leases across the country. Her conenctions to other DOGE projects have not be publicly documented yet.
Events
Agency | Date | Event |
---|---|---|
1/29
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1/29
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1/30
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1/31
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3/04
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Directory:
Wired reports that some DOGE staff (Kyle Schutt, Nate Cavanaugh) are being paid as full-time GSA employees, but other staff are listed as volunteers for that agency
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3/20
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Kenneth Jackson
Positions
Position | Notes |
---|---|
3/17- |
appointed Acting President (supervisory) |
3/18- |
appointed Deputy Administrator (Management and Resources) (supervisory) court doc |
Events
Agency | Date | Event |
---|---|---|
3/10
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Onboard:
The Trump Administration nominates Kenneth Jackson and Russell Vought to be on the board of the IAF
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3/14
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Disruption:
DOGE members Kenneth Jackson, Jacob Altik and Nate Cavanaugh show up at USIP building with 2 other people claiming to be FBI agents and are refused entry. They attempted to present a document firing the USIP president.
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3/17
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Disruption:
DOGE members Kenneth Jackson, Jacob Altik and Nate Cavanaugh remove staff and president of the USIP with the help of Office of the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia, the FBI and D.C. police
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3/19
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Official:
Peter Marocco says that he will be succeeded at the agency by Jeremy Lewin and Kenneth Jackson
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Erica Jehling
Michael Kratsios
Tom Krause
Positions
Position | Notes |
---|---|
1/23-2/12 |
consultant Senior Advisor for Technology and Modernization, Office of the Chief of Staff (SGE, NTE 2025-04-10, volunteer) docs: onboard, directory (replaced with new role) |
2/13- |
promoted (SGE, Schedule C, NTE 2025-07-03, GS-15, $167,603 - $195,200) «Salary range for GS-15 in DC» docs: directory court doc |
Events
Agency | Date | Event |
---|---|---|
1/08
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2/04
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Oversight:
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent writes a letter to Congress about Scott Krause having read-only access but doesn't mention Marko Elez
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3/24
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4/11
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5/26
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Scott Kupor
A managing partner at Andreesen Horowitz, Scott Kupor was advanced by a Senate committee as the nomination for the permanent head of the OPM to replace Charles Ezell. However, his nomination still has not come up for a floor vote in the Senate.
Events
Agency | Date | Event |
---|---|---|
12/06
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4/03
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Report:
Scott Kupor, the nominee to lead OPM, assured senators that he believes strong in data privacy and respecting the humanity and dignity of the workforce
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Peter Marocco
Events
Agency | Date | Event |
---|---|---|
2/23
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3/04
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Disruption:
USADF CFO Mathieu Zahui receives an email from Nate Cavanaugh informing him that Peter Marocco would be coming to the office the following day as Chairman of the Board
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3/04
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Disruption:
Peter Marocco announces himself to staff as President/CEO, begins dismantling all contracts, places all staff on administrative leave for 30 days
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3/19
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Official:
Peter Marocco says that he will be succeeded at the agency by Jeremy Lewin and Kenneth Jackson
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Antoine McCord
Clark Minor
A former head of cloud strategy at Palantir, Clark Minor was named the CIO for Health and Human Services in February. in that position, he is able to grant access for DOGE staff to many systems.
Positions
Position | Notes |
---|---|
2/14- |
appointed Chief Information Officer Orange Slices |
2/24- |
internal xfer «date inferred from system access» Wired |
c.2/25- |
internal xfer «mentioned as meeting with FDA staff in late Feb/early March» court doc |
Events
Agency | Date | Event |
---|---|---|
2/24
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2/24
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c.2/25
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Sighting:
FDA staff give a high-level overview of FDA structures and functions to Clark Minor
[date is just given as late February and early March for meetings]
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3/XX
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Access:
In a response to a Trump EO on tracking grant, the DOGE team is granted approval by HHS CIO Clark Minor to build an API to retrieved data from the PMS system
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Trent Morse
Technically not a member of DOGE, Trent Morse has often coordinated with them on their operations against smaller independent agencies. In several examples, when the Trump Administration has moved to fire board members and executives of independent agencies, that email has always come from Trent Morse.
Positions
Position | Notes |
---|---|
1/23- |
appointed Deputy Assistant to the President / Deputy Director of Presidential Personnel (supervisory) |
Events
Agency | Date | Event |
---|---|---|
2/24
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Disruption:
USADF president/CEO Ward Brehm receives an email from Trent Morse in the White House Personnel Office notifying him that he is removed from tbe board.
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2/28
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Disruption:
USADF Managing Director of Finance Mathieu Zahui receives an email from Trent Morse informing him the USADF is "boardless" and naming Peter Marocco as acting chair. Zahui informs them appointment would require senate confirmation first.
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4/28
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Disruption:
Three members of the board for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting receive an email from Trent Morse at the White House informing them that they have been fired. This renders the board inert without quorum.
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Ryan Riedel
Christopher Roussos
Events
Agency | Date | Event |
---|---|---|
3/25
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Directory:
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.
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Mike Russo
Positions
Position | Notes |
---|---|
1/31-3/24 |
appointed Chief Information Officer (supervisory) (replaced with new role) Wash. Post |
3/25- |
demoted to Senior Advisor NextGov |
Events
Agency | Date | Event |
---|---|---|
1/30
|
Interagency:
Leland Dudek reaches out to Tiffany Flick, the Associate Director of Budget, Facilities and Security to inform her two DOGE staff would be onboarding. He was a mid-level employee at the time.
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2/03
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Onboard:
Mike Russo officially joins the agency as its new CIO, requests Akash Bobba to join the agency (but he has issues with his background check)
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2/10
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Disruption:
Mike Russo, DOGE chief of staff Steve Davis both demand that Akash Bobba be onboarded before midnight.
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2/10
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Sighting:
CIO Mike Russo convenes his own internal informational group in SSA, has conversations with other agencies about data sharing, does not inform acting SSA Director, Michelle King
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2/15
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Disruption:
Frustrated with the questions and concerns about technical issues with the sandbox NUMIDENT data, Mike Russo goes to complain to the chief CIO in the office of the OMB
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2/19
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Official:
SSA CIO Mike Russo emails Leland Dudek request access to EDW for several "members of [his] team" for Numident, Master Beneficiary Record (MBR) and Supplemental Security Record (SSR) master records, as well as copies of SSA payment files that SSA transmits to the Department of the Treasury, Bureau of the Fiscal Service (BFS) for payment
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3/24
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Disruption:
Mike Russo is removed from his CIO position by the Trump administration, reportedly for complying quickly with the judicial ruling to remove DOGE access
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3/26
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Disruption:
During his confirmation hearing, Frank Bisignano, the nominee to run the agency, confirms that he had coordinated with Michael Russo but denied a whistleblower report that he had ordered the appointment of DOGE staff there
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Bryton Shang
Thomas Shedd
Positions
Position | Notes |
---|---|
1/24- |
appointed Deputy FAS Commissioner / Administrator, Technology Transformation Service (supervisory) Fed News Network |
3/14- |
appointed Chief Information Officer (supervisory) NextGov |
Events
Agency | Date | Event |
---|---|---|
1/30
|
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1/31
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2/10
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Disruption:
Unnamed DOGE staff using non-government accounts conduct dozens of "touch-base" interviews with dozens of US Digital Corps fellows, under the direction of Thomas Shedd
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2/18
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Disruption:
A GSA employee reportedly resigned rather than give unrestricted admin access for the SMS emergency notification service Notify.gov to Thomas Shedd
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2/19
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Disruption:
Thomas Shedd has allegedly requested admin access to 19 different systems within TTS at GSA
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3/01
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Disruption:
TTS administrator Thomas Shedd eliminates 90 members of 18F with a 1am firing email and locks them out of their machines
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3/06
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Disruption:
Thomas Shedd says in a statement that he expects TTS will be 50% smaller within weeks
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3/20
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Brad Smith
Positions
Position | Notes |
---|---|
2/XX- |
appointed «identified as dual appointee at HHS and DOGE / detailed from USDS» court doc |
2/XX-3/04 |
likely detailed «detail started before 2/13» (replaced with new role) |
3/04- |
converted to permanent position Senior Advisor docs: onboard |
Events
Agency | Date | Event |
---|---|---|
1/12
|
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
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Directory:
A report from Business Insider names some of the DOGE staffers who were involved in transition activities
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3/31
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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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Keith Sonderling
Positions
Position | Notes |
---|---|
3/18- |
appointed Deputy Secretary (supervisory) ArtNet |
3/20- |
appointed Acting Director ArtNet |
Events
Agency | Date | Event |
---|---|---|
3/20
|
Sighting:
DOGE arrives at IMLS HQ and are startled to find staff there. They quickly swear in Keith Sonderling as acting director of IMLS and then leave.
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4/17
|
Disruption:
According to a sworn declaration by an employee of MBDA, Nate Cavanaugh sends emails terminating MBDA grants under the authority of Keith Sonderling
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Mark Steffensen
Positions
Position | Notes |
---|---|
2/25-2/27 |
appointed Senior Advisor, Office of the Commissioner (replaced with new role) Law Dork |
2/27- |
promoted to Acting General Counsel, Office of the Commissioner «promoted within two days of being appointed» Law Dork |
Events
Agency | Date | Event |
---|---|---|
2/10
|
Official:
The incoming SSA head directs for Mark Steffensen to be onboarded to SSA as an attorney, according to the testimony of a whistleblower
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James Sullivan
A veteran of the first Trump Administration, James Sullivan might not have been considered DOGE before by any media organizations. But he was hired with the Senior Advisor title and on 3/28, he took over as the Chief of Staff at OPM from Amanda Scales. He also is one of the redacted identies in court filings from the OPM. So, I think he counts?
Positions
Position | Notes |
---|---|
1/20- |
[as OPM-08] appointed Senior Advisor to the Director (SES Noncareer, ES-00, $195,200) docs: onboard court doc |
3/28- |
promoted to Chief of Staff, Office of the Director (55-Noncareer (Senior Exec Perm), ES-00) court doc |
Systems
System | Details |
---|---|
Databricks
2/03-
|
Databricks
admin access [listed as “OPM Data Azure Databricks Admin + NP / PRD Azure Subscriptions”] A hosted or self-hosted service that simplifies systems for processing big Data (OPM) court doc |
USA Staff
2/03-
|
USA Staffing
admin access [for the govt-wide hiring freeze] System for tracking the onboarding of federal employees (OPM) court doc |
Events
Agency | Date | Event |
---|---|---|
3/28
|
Action:
For reasons that aren't entirely clear, Amanda Scales is replaced as the Chief of Staff at OPM by James Sullivan. Amanda changes to a Senior Advisor position at the agency.
|
Chris Young
Positions
Position | Notes |
---|---|
1/30- |
appointed Expert, Office of the Director (ED-00, excepted) docs: directory |
2/07- |
detail |
Events
Agency | Date | Event |
---|---|---|
1/30
|
||
2/06
|
||
2/12
|
||
2/20
|
Sighting:
Chris Young meets with USADF leadership at their HQ to "introduce DOGE to the agency" and that 2 engineers would be assigned there
|
|
4/12
|
Interagency:
Emailing from his CFPB account, Jeremy Lewin shares the documentation for the upcoming CFPB RIF with DOGE staff posted at several agencies. It's unclear if they are representing their agencies or DOGE in the communication
|