Cavanaugh's Cronies
Nate Cavnaugh doesn’t do his work alone. He is helped by a growing group of other DOGE members who either show up with him at agencies or handle things alone.
Jacob Altik
Exited govt: 6/27/25 (verified)
Jacob Altik is a 2021 graduate of the University of Michigan Law School. Prior to joining DOGE, he clerked for DC Circuit Appeals Judge Neomi Rao, who was a protege of Russell Vought in the first Trump administration. As a lawyer, he is often responsible for backing up DOGE’s actions with legal threats, and there are several reported cases of him attempting to browbeat independent agencies into compliance with administration policy. He has also been selected to be a clerk for Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch in the summer of 2025, so he left DOGE by the end of June 2025.
Likely aliases: OPM-16
Positions
| Position | Notes |
|---|---|
| OPM |
Sources
|
| DOGE |
Source
|
| USADF |
Source
|
| FCC |
Source
|
Systems
| System | Notes |
|---|---|
|
USA Performance
|
Source
System tracking job performance of federal employees unknown access «system name is listed as “USA Performance - Office of the Director”» |
Events
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
|
1/24/25
|
Source
Onboard
Jacob Altik and Nikhil Rajpal start working at OPM
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2/06/25
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Source
Legal
DOGE member and lawyer Jacob Altik joins the legal defense team for the administration in Jane Does 1-2 v. Office of Personnel Management (D.D.C.) without revealing he is an DOGE staffer who is working for OPM.
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2/12/25
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Source
Directory
In a FOIA request, Democracy Forward names DOGE staff known to be at OPM at that time.
Akash Bobba, Amanda Scales, Anthony Armstrong, Austin Raynor, Brian Bjelde, Bryanne-Michelle Mlodzianowski, Charles Ezell, Christina Hanna, Edward Coristine, Gavin Kliger, Greg Hogan, Jacob Altik, Joanna Wischer, Justin Monroe, Nikhil Rajpal, Noah Peters, Riccardo Biasini, Stephanie Holmes, Stephen Duarte
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2/21/25
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Source
Disruption
Jacob Altik demands waivers to exempt DOGE staff from background checks. He also threatens to fire the USADF board if DOGE’s demands are not met.
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2/21/25
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Source
Sighting
Ethan Shaotran, Jacob Altik, and Nate Cavanaugh arrive at the agency and demand that a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) must be signed for their detail assignment.
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2/21/25
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Source
Interagency
Ethan Shaotran and Nate Cavanaugh return to the IAF with Jacob Altik, who presented himself as representing the EOP. Altik confirms that DOGE plans to reduce IAF to what he considers the statutory minimum (a board and president, a location in DC, some grants) and DOGE will be conducting a Reduction in Force of all employees and terminating all grants. The demand approval from the board and threaten the board will be fired otherwise.
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2/21/25
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Source
Access
Nate Cavanaugh and Jacob Altik then demanded immediate access to USADF systems including financial records and payment and human resources systems. They were told they had to go through standard clearance process.
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2/21/25
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Source
Disruption
Once the MOU is signed, DOGE staff reveal their real purpose is to conduct a massive reduction in agency staff and scope and demand they must file a RIF plan by February 24th.
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2/24/25
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Source
Interagency
USIP leadership meets with DOGE staffers James Burnham, Jacob Altik and Nate Cavanaugh to explain the history and legal status of the small independent executive branch agency and why it should not need to respond to DOGE’s demands
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2/24/25
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Source
Report
The DOGE delegation counters to USIP leadership with their belief that minimum statutory size of agency is “a Board of Directors and a president, reports to Congress and the Executive branch, and expenses incident to the Board of Directors” and says they will regroup and return.
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3/05/25
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Source
Disruption
Jacob Altik and Ethan Shaotran are rebuffed by agency leadership when attempting to enter the agency headquarters.
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3/06/25
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Source
Disruption
DOGE staff Jacob Altik and Ethan Shaotran return to the agency joined by Nate Cavanaugh and US marshals to force their way into the agency.
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3/09/25
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Source
Disruption
After receiving inquiries from the DOGE staff, the head of USIP security emailed them information about the private security firm that manages access to the HQ building.
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3/13/25
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Source
Interagency
Tarak Makecha, Joshua Fox, and Jacob Altik communicate with FCC staff about detailing arrangements from the OPM to the FCC (presumably for Tarak and Jacob)
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3/14/25
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Source
Disruption
DOGE members Kenneth Jackson, Jacob Altik and Nate Cavanaugh show up at USIP building with 2 other people who claim to be FBI agents. They are refused entry. The DOGE delegation attempts to present a document firing the USIP president.
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3/17/25
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Source
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. Kenneth Jackson is named Acting President.
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3/18/25
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Source
Legal
A lawyer for the plaintiffs accuses the Department of Justice of deliberately misrepresenting Jacob Altik’s participation in the defense “perhaps to preserve the illusion that OPM’s counsel were ignorant of what OPM was doing with the Government-Wide Email System, or perhaps to obscure the role of DOGE and the White House in this case.”
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3/26/25
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Source
Directory
Politico publishes a list of 10 lawyers that it says are linked to DOGE.
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4/04/25
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Source
Sighting
Tarak Makecha, Jordan Wick and Jacob Altik are listed in the public directory of FCC staff and listed as associated with the Office of the Chairman at the FCC.
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4/08/25
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Source
Interagency
Jacob Altik and Ashley Boizelle meet in the FCC headquarters with the Chief of Staff Greg Watson to discuss the FCC’s progress on removing regulations.
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c.4/20/25
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Source
Interagency
In a meeting between HUD and DOGE, Jacob Altik says they are planning to use Christopher Sweet’s AI model analyzing regulations at HUD to review the entire Code of Federal regulations for regulations to review.
(fuzz: Date is unspecified, just sometime earlier in April)
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6/24/25
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Source
Directory
In a status report for AFGE, AFL-CIO v. OPM, the government reports that multiple DOGE staff at OPM have left the government by this date. Of course, their actual departure dates might be earlier, but it’s a direct acknowledgment of multiple staff departures in the preceding months.
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7/01/25
|
Source
Action
DOGE gives a presentation of a “DOGE AI Deregulation Decision Tool” that will use AI to target roughly 50% of federal regulations for elimination, on the argument that they aren’t meeting statutory requirements. The goal is to slash these regulations by January 20, 2026. In their presentation, DOGE claims the tool has already made determinations on 1083 decisions at HUD (using Christopher Sweet’s work) and has also been used for 100% of deregulatory actions at the CFPB. It also states that DOGE lawyers James Burnham, Austin Raynor, Jacob Altik and Ashley Boizelle have vetted and endorsed the tool.
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Emily Bryant
A relatively new arrival to DOGE. My only information on her is a sighting on the DOGE team at the FTC. ProPublica did report that she has an email address at both GSA and EOP, so I am assuming she started there and was detailed outward. In a recent podcast, Antonio Gracias said that “[Baris Akis] and Emily do the recruiting.” Is it possibly her?
Positions
| Position | Notes |
|---|---|
| DOGE |
Sources
|
| GSA |
Source
|
| FTC |
Source
|
Events
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
|
4/04/25
|
Source
Sighting
Axios reports that Gavin Kliger and Emily Bryant have started work at the FTC, looking at grants and contracts at the agency.
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Open Questions
- Is there more info I can dig up on Emily Bryant? She doesn't seem to be any documentation on her.
Justin Fox
Tech Industry Links: Special
Exited govt: c.9/15/25 (verified)
Joining GSA as a wrecker in mid-February, Justin Fox has mainly served as Nate Cavanaugh’s sidekick for the destruction of several small independent federal agencies. Prior to his career as a visigoth, he worked as an analyst at several different investment firms. He was all friends in college with fellow wrecker Marshall Wood. Since October 1, 2025, he has been the co-founder of a tech company named Special with Nate Cavanaugh.
Positions
Systems
| System | Notes |
|---|---|
|
Microsoft Entra ID
|
Source
A centralized identity provider used to support single-sign-on (SSO) and centralize access control for agencies. admin access «inferred because he sent emails from what looks like a global admin account for Entra» |
Events
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
|
c.1/21/25
|
Source
Interagency
Justin Fox reports that connected with him before he started work at DOGE. Besides Armstrong, Justin Fox was also communicating with other DOGE members via Signal both in group chats and individually. This appears to be a violation of government records laws for those other staffers who were already working in the federal government.
(fuzz: Exact date not given, but he testifies that Anthony Armstrong reached out just after inauguration)
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3/12/25
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Sources
Disruption
Immediately after the removal of the agency’s chair by the Trump administration, DOGE staffers Nate Cavanaugh and Justin Fox contact NEH IT for access to key systems and arrive at the agency.
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c.3/30/25
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Source
Disruption
Nate Cavanaugh and Justin Fox gain access to the system at NEH for approving and administering grants. Justin Fox proceeds to look for grant descriptions containing words like “black,” “LGBTQ,” “Jew,” “Native,” and “immigrant” to eliminate for promoting DEI. He organized grants into a “Craziest Grants” and “Other Bad Grants” list, presumably for DOGE or the administration to use for promotional purposes. He also started asking ChatGPT to answer yes or no if individual grants “relate at all to DEI” and using that to mark grants for deletion without any further review.
(fuzz: date only given as a few days prior to termination)
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|
3/31/25
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Source
Sighting
DOGE staff reportedly visit the Wilson Center for Scholars headquarters. In other reporting, the New York Times had identified Justin Fox as part of this delegation.
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3/31/25
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Source
Disruption
Justin Fox sends a letter to the acting head of the NEH, Michael McDonald, expressing frustration that the agency is not moving quickly enough to terminate grants. In his letter, he writes “We’re getting pressure from the top on this and we’d prefer that you remain on our side but let us know if you’re no longer interested.”
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|
4/01/25
|
Source
Disruption
NEH staff members are informed that DOGE is seeking a 70-80% reduction in staff and a cancellation of any grants made under the Biden administration that were not already fully disbursed.
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|
4/01/25
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Source
Disruption
In a response to Justin Fox asking about cuts, NEH Chairman Michael McDonald advocates for not cutting some proposed grants, but notes: “But you have also told us that in addition to canceling projects because they may promote DEI ideology, the DOGE Team also wishes to cancel funding to assist deficit reduction. Either way, as you’ve made clear, it’s your decision on whether to discontinue funding any of the projects on this list.”
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|
4/02/25
|
Source
Disruption
Approximately 1500 grantees receive grant cancellation emails sent from a nonstandard email address and bypassing the normal grant review process. The domain for the email address Grant_Notifications@nehemail.onmicrosoft.com suggests it was sent from a global admin account for Microsoft Entra, an access-control system used at the agency. The Acting Director of the NEH seems unaware of the messages. The content of the message cites an incorrect executive order as its justification, suggesting it was copied from an earlier email that was sent to IAF and USADF grantees after their DOGE takeover.
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4/03/25
|
Source
Disruption
145 NEH staff members (approximately 80% of workforce) are abruptly placed on administrative leave and locked out of system access. The remaining employees are pressured by Nate Cavanaugh and Justin Fox to formally conduct a Reduction-in-Force (RIF) as quickly as possible
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c.4/07/25
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Source
Sighting
Nate Cavanaugh and Justin Fox begin holding a series of meetings with MCC leadership. Following the DOGE pattern for small independent agencies, this process eventually culminates in termination of all grants and mass layoffs.
(fuzz: exact date not given, just in “last two weeks”)
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4/16/25
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Source
Sighting
Justin Fox and Nate Cavanaugh are reportedly detailed from the GSA to work at the NLRB over the next few months.
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4/22/25
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Source
Report
Staff at the Millennium Challenge Corporation are informed that DOGE has directed the termination of all grants and the reduction of the staff from 320 to a few dozen.
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4/29/25
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Source
Interagency
Nate Cavanaugh sends an email to the two remaining members of the CPB board requesting a meeting. He describes a DOGE team at GSA and cc’s several other members of DOGE
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5/13/25
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Source
Sighting
Justin Fox emails GAO (cc’ing Nate Cavanaugh) to schedule a call to get a DOGE team assigned to the GAO. This is despite the GAO being located in the legislative branch and thus not answerable to the President.
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5/13/25
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Source
Directory
In an overview of how DOGE has tried to assign teams outside of the executive branch, NPR lists six DOGE staffers at GSA who are involved with those efforts.
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5/20/25
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Source
Action
Justin Fox sends a message to the Acting Chair of NEH stating “Ringing to give you a heads-up that the DOGE team is planning to make an X post on NEH highlighting a few of the crazy DEI grants from Biden-era administration and reiterating that NEH grants going forward will be merit-based and awarded to nonDEI, pro-America causes”
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7/21/25
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Source
Directory
Multiple DOGE staff are listed in the invite for a new meeting for political appointees at the agency which will be held once every two weeks.
(fuzz: Jeremy Lewin is a Deputy Undersecretary at State, but still a GSA employee?)
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1/28/26
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Sources
Legal
Justin Fox testifies in a deposition related to American Council of Learned Societies v. NEH. He states he has no access to NEH or GSA equipment and that all of the communications related to mass terminations at NEH were done on his GSA laptop. He also admits to communicating with DOGE staffers before and after hiring on Signal. He states that Anythony Armstrong specifically used Signal to send him messages related to DOGE leadership priorities, and that Anthony Armstrong was very focused about using Signal.
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2/13/26
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Source
Legal
Ruling in American Council of Learned Societies/Authors Guild v. NEH, Judge Colleen McMahon rejects an argument by the government that a spreadsheet listing all of the DOGE staff and their positions and detailing arrangement must remain sealed for their personal safety. She orders them and a series of text messages made by DOGE staffers Nate Cavanaugh and Justin Fox must be entered into the record by February 17th.
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Jonathan Mendelson
An April addition to the DOGE lineup, Jonathan Mendelson has been part of Nate Cavanaugh’s wrecking crew that visits small independent executive agencies to subvert and destroy them. He has been spotted at the SEC and the USDFC so far, which is concerning considering he comes from a background in venture capital and investment banking. Prior to DOGE, he was an investor in the Silicon Valley VC firm Accel.
Positions
| Position | Notes |
|---|---|
| GSA |
Source
GSA
4/09/25
|
| DFC |
Source
|
| SEC |
Sources
|
Events
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
|
4/28/25
|
Source
Sighting
A team of 4 DOGE personnel – Nate Cavanaugh, Jonathan Mendelson, Ethan Shaotran and Marshall Wood – arrive at the headquarters of the US International Development Finance Corporation
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4/29/25
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Source
Interagency
Nate Cavanaugh sends an email to the two remaining members of the CPB board requesting a meeting. He describes a DOGE team at GSA and cc’s several other members of DOGE
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5/13/25
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Source
Directory
In an overview of how DOGE has tried to assign teams outside of the executive branch, NPR lists six DOGE staffers at GSA who are involved with those efforts.
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c.8/03/25
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Source
Interagency
SEC leadership meets with DOGE representatives Jonathan Mendelson and Christopher Sweet to discuss using Sweet’s AI tool to identify regulations to cut or modify at the agency. It’s unclear if Sweet is detailed to the agency or just demonstrating the tool to SEC staff. Reportedly, agency staff then used the tool to identify thousands of regulations to cut. The list will then be reviewed by agency leadership and lawyers.
(fuzz: Date given is “a short time after” the AI task force is created)
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Eliezer Mishory
A perfect enacapsulation of the ethical quagmires surrounding DOGE. Prior to his current assignement, he was the chief regulatory officer at a prediction and betting company, for whom Donald Trump Jr. is an advisor. Now he gets to work his ways on the SEC.
Positions
| Position | Notes |
|---|---|
| SEC |
Sources
10/31/25
|
Events
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
|
4/15/25
|
Source
Sighting
Reports that SEC leadership has pushed back on DOGE requests to get admin access for staff emails, personnel data, contracts, and payments systems.
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7/01/25
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Source
Disruption
DOGE staff at the SEC reportedly have been holding meetings in recent weeks pressuring SEC staff to eliminate regulations around blank-check companies and confidential reporting by private investment funds that were finalized in the Biden administration.
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10/30/25
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Source
Report
The DOGE team at the SEC has reportedly wrapped up its work at the agency and will be exiting from its involvement at the regulator. Although multiple people have been part of DOGE’s efforts, only Eliezer Mishory has been spotted there in recent months
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Donald Park
Mr. Park is the cofounder of a private equity company named Ionic Partners and located in Austin, Texas. He has been involved in efforts to discover fraud in SBA loans.
Positions
| Position | Notes |
|---|---|
| GSA |
|
| SBA |
Sources
|
| EXIM |
Source
|
| DOD |
Source
|
Systems
| System | Notes |
|---|---|
|
CAFS
|
Source
The main portal at the SBA for main portal for processing loan applications and servicing loans. read access granted by CIO |
|
NFC Insight
|
Source
A business intelligence system that is one of the offerings of the National Finance Center, which handles payroll for 650,000 federal employees. read access granted by Deputy Director |
|
NFC Reports
|
Source
The Reporting Center is a Web-based application page which allows managers, personnel specialists, and other employees of Federal Agencies serviced by NFC to generate Administrative Reports, Financial Reports, and Workforce Reports. read access granted by Deputy Director |
Events
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
|
2/03/25
|
Source
Action
Elias Hernandez, the associate administrator for the Office of Veterans Business Development at SBA, emails the director of the National Finance Center (NFC) asking for immediate admin access to the mainframe for “all SBA Personnel Office Identifiers (POIs)”. NFC is a shared service from USDA that handles payroll for roughly 150,000 federal employees across 170 agencies including the SBA.
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|
2/03/25
|
Source
Access
Edward Corisitine and Donald Park are granted access to the SBA’s core financial and loan systems within five hours of the CIO authorizing the request.
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|
2/03/25
|
Source
Action
Stephen Kucharski, director of the SBA’s Office of Performance Systems Management, emailed 19 colleagues with an urgent request: “Please help me and my OCIO colleagues as we mobilize to provide Edward Coristine and Donald Park Admin access to all SBA systems. This action has been cleared and we are on a very short time frame.” They were to be granted access to HR and procurement systems. He then follows up with the agency CIO.
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2/03/25
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Source
Access
Within three hours of the request, Edward Coristine and Donald Park are granted “admin authority” to the mainframe and read-only access to the NFC Insight and Reporting Center applications. This gives them the ability to see sensitive information like salary, banking information and even debt for employees at the SBA (and possibly other agencies)
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2/03/25
|
Source
Sighting
Email to SBA staff announces that Edward Coristine and Donald Park were granted access to all systems including HR, contract, and payment systems.
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2/16/25
|
Source
Disruption
Donald Park sets up the @DOGE_SBA account on X as a communications channel for DOGE and a place for the general public to snitch on agency activities. He does not involve agency communications staff that would normally handle social media accounts.
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5/14/25
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Source
Sighting
Nate Cavanaugh and Donald Park reportedly are assigned email addresses and reserved office space at the Export-Import Bank of the US.
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|
5/16/25
|
Source
Directory
In a response to a FOIA request made by American Oversight, SBA provides a list of all people who have been identified as communicating on agency head Kelly Loefler’s behalf. It includes a number of people known to be DOGE and others with the title Senior Advisor who might also be doge.gov
|
Jack Stein
Recently an investment banking associate at Salem Partners, he is one of the newer members of Nate Cavanaugh’s wrecking crew that visited small agencies in April.
Positions
| Position | Notes |
|---|---|
| MCC |
Source
|
| GSA |
Source
GSA
4/15/25
|
Events
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
|
5/13/25
|
Source
Directory
In an overview of how DOGE has tried to assign teams outside of the executive branch, NPR lists six DOGE staffers at GSA who are involved with those efforts.
|
Marshall Wood
Exited govt: 9/XX/25 (reported)
A former investment banking associate at Jefferies, Marshall Wood is part of the wrecking crew led by Nate Cavanaugh that has visited multiple independent agencies. He also is a friend of Justin Fox from their days as students at the University of Virginia. Much of DOGE’s wrecking activities have dissipated in recent months, and his own LinkedIn reports that he has now landed in a reward position in Strategic Finance at xAI, one of Musk’s companies.
Positions
| Position | Notes |
|---|---|
| GSA |
Sources
GSA
4/21/25-9/XX/25
|
| DFC |
Source
|
| NEA |
Source
|
| ODNI |
Source
|
Events
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
|
4/28/25
|
Source
Sighting
A team of 4 DOGE personnel – Nate Cavanaugh, Jonathan Mendelson, Ethan Shaotran and Marshall Wood – arrive at the headquarters of the US International Development Finance Corporation
|
|
5/13/25
|
Source
Directory
In an overview of how DOGE has tried to assign teams outside of the executive branch, NPR lists six DOGE staffers at GSA who are involved with those efforts.
|
|
7/21/25
|
Source
Directory
Multiple DOGE staff are listed in the invite for a new meeting for political appointees at the agency which will be held once every two weeks.
(fuzz: Jeremy Lewin is a Deputy Undersecretary at State, but still a GSA employee?)
|
Bridget Youngs
Exited govt: 8/XX/25 (self-reported)
Not much is reported about Bridget Youngs’ actions for DOGE. Like many of Nate Cavanaugh’s wrecking crew, she comes from a background in finance and investment, and is young (graduating from college in 2017). She left DOGE in August to join a defense contracting startup.
Positions
| Position | Notes |
|---|---|
| GSA |
Source
GSA
3/XX/25-8/XX/25
Contract Specialist
«Emails from Peace Corps staff shared via FOIA reveal that she was detailed from GSA, this matches common pattern for wreckers»
|
| DOL |
Sources
GSA DOL
3/XX/25-8/XX/25
detailed
«From her LinkedIn: “Lead agency actions resulting in over $5 billion in taxpayer savings, re-industrialization workforce initiatives, deregulation, and platform modernization for Federal unemployment and workforce visas” but described elsewhere as from GSA, so assuming detail»
|
| Peace |
Source
|
Events
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
|
4/03/25
|
Source
Interagency
A human resources division chief at the Peace Corps reports receiving two phone calls in quick succession. The first was from a Senior Advisor at OPM who also claimed to be a liasion for the White House, reporting that a DOGE representative would be detailed from USAID. The second was from a woman detailed to DOGE from GSA, who stated she was originally going to be detailed to USAID but will now be in a leadership position short term. She is not identified but is likely Bridget Youngs.
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|
4/04/25
|
Source
Onboard
In a heavily redacted email, a DOGE member (likely Bridget Youngs) reports that they will likely be the only person on-site, but requests that 4 names total should be granted physical access to the building
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|
4/04/25
|
Sources
Sighting
DOGE staffer Bridget Youngs visits the Peace Corps, planning to work over the weeked to review records and access IT systems.
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|
5/07/25
|
Source
Disruption
DOGE staff at the Department of Labor terminate more than two dozen grants to increase the representation of women in trades like construction, manufacturing and IT, as well as to combat gender-based violence and discrimination. DOGE later brags about it on its X account.
(fuzz: She’s not named, but I am linking Bridget Youngs since she claims she was reviewing grants at DOL)
|
Open Questions
- She was named as showing up at the Peace Corps once. Has she been involved in any other DOGE visits to other independent agencies?
- Did Bridget Youngs start at DOL and get detailed from there? Or did she start at GSA like many others in Nate Cavanaugh's orbit and then get detailed to DOL?