Marko Elez

Wrecker, coder, age 25
Tech Industry Links: Twitter, SpaceX

Marko Elez first appeared as the only DOGE member who was authorized to access confidential systems at the Bureau of Fiscal Services within the Treasury Department, a development which was swiftly blocked for a while by lawsuits. During that time, he also became the only DOGE member to resign his position, when various past racist tweets of his were discovered by the Wall Street Journal. He was quickly reinstated by Elon Musk with the support of J.D. Vance, who saw nothing wrong with his speech; indeed, since then DOGE has added several other members linked to racist and extremist content online. Upon rejoning DOGE, Marko Elez was placed with Aram Moghaddassi on a team inside of the Department of Labor, and the two are frequently sent on reimburable details to other agencies like SSA or DHS.

Likely aliases: SSA-07

Positions

click for sources; full legend
Position Notes
Treasury
Treasury 1/21-2/06 appointed Special Advisor (IT&M) (NTE 2025-05-25, GS-11/01, $84,601 (for 4 months)) «Abruptly resigned when past racist tweets were reported. I think the pay here is to the NTE date, since his later detail to SSA from DOL is reimbursed at $71k a quarter»
resigned from agency 2/06
DOL
DOL 2/12 appointed Policy Advisor (NTE 2025-06-11, GS-11/01, $84,601)
SSA
DOL SSA 2/18 [as SSA-07] detail (reimbursed up to $71,000) «MOU signed by Mike Russo, was this followed by being hired at SSA»
HHS
DOL HHS 3/05 likely detailed Executive Engineer «date/source in court filing»
HHS CMS 3/05 internal xfer «granted access to CMS system on date»
DHS
DOL? DHS date unknown likely detailed
DHS CBP date unknown internal xfer
DHS ICE date unknown internal xfer
DHS TSA date unknown internal xfer «linked to DHS by NYT»
DHS USCIS date unknown internal xfer

Systems

click for sources; full legend
System Notes
ASAP
Automated Standard Access For Payments 1/28
A payment system that allows recipients to draw down funds from an established bank account for that recipient.
source-code access
PAM DB
Payment Automation Manager DB 1/28-2/06
The U.S. government uses the Payment Automation Manager (PAM) to pay all bills, except payments in foreign currency. PAM processed over 1.2 billion payments in FY 2024, valued at over 4.7 trillion dollars.
source-code access granted by Deputy Director
SPS
Secure Payment System 1/28-2/06
Used by federal government agencies to securely create, certify, and submit payments to the Fiscal Service.
source-code access granted by Deputy Director
PAM DB
Payment Automation Manager DB 2/03-2/06
The U.S. government uses the Payment Automation Manager (PAM) to pay all bills, except payments in foreign currency. PAM processed over 1.2 billion payments in FY 2024, valued at over 4.7 trillion dollars.
read-write access (last access 2/05)
PAM FS
Payment Automation Manager File System 2/03-2/06
Where payment files are transmitted from initiating agencies before they are certified and processed by Treasury
read access (last access 2/05)
SPS
Secure Payment System 2/05-2/06
Used by federal government agencies to securely create, certify, and submit payments to the Fiscal Service.
read-write access (last access 2/05) granted by Deputy Director
DRA
Directory Resource Administrator 2/25
A tool for managing access control to systems built on top of ActiveDirectory
read access (never accessed) granted by Deputy Director
ePACS
Enterprise Physical Access Control System 2/25
Used to control physical access to the DOL HQ and several other buildings. Could track when employees enter and leave
read access granted by Deputy Director
USAccess
USAccess 2/25
Shared service access provider system
read access granted by Deputy Director
CALM
CMS Acquisition Lifecycle Management System 3/05
System for tracking CMS acquisitions, contracts, milestones and audits.
read access granted by CIO
HIGLAS
Healthcare Integrated General Ledger Accounting System 3/05
A single, integrated dual-entry accounting system that centralizes accounting for CMS programs, including Medicare and Medicaid.
read access granted by CIO
IDR
Integrated Data Repository 3/05
A data warehouse that receives all Medicare claims after they have been approved for payment
read access granted by CIO
NDNH
National Directory of New Hires 3/06-4/18
A system for tracking wages and new hires that’s used for child support location
read access granted by CTO
SAVE
Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements 3/15
An online service for agencies to verify immigration status and naturalized/acquired U.S. citizenship of applicants seeking benefits or licenses.
unknown access
MBR
Master Beneficiary Record 3/17
A large record of all individuals elgible to receive social security benefits
read access granted by CIO Mike Russo
NUMIDENT
Numerical Identification System 3/17
NUMIDENT files that have been extracted from SSA systems, these contain SSNs for everybody
read access granted by CIO Mike Russo
SSR
Supplemental Security Record master records 3/17
A master record used by the SSA for the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program
read access granted by CIO Mike Russo
UI Data
Unemployment Insurance Data and Related Records 3/21
Unemployment insurance claims data from states’ unemployment insurance agencies. This was explicitly transferred from the Inspector General’s office at DOL following a 2025-03-20 executive order
read access granted by CIO Thomas Shedd
REO
Reentry Employment Opportunities 4/18
System which tracks funding provided for justice-involved youth and young adults and adults who were formerly incarcerated.
unknown access
ECAS
Executive Office for Immigration Review's Court and Appeals System 4/21
A system used by DOJ for tracking the status of immigration cases
unknown access

Events

click for sources; full legend
Date Event
1/28 Treasury
Marko Elez is provided with a laptop from Treasury with with copies of the source code for the PAM, SPS, and ASAP systems in a separate, secure coding environment known as a “secure code repository” or “sandbox.”
2/11 Treasury
A legal affadavit from a Treausry employee states Marko Elez was accidentally given edit access to Bureau of the Fiscal Service systems but that he did not use it.
2/18 SSA
Multiple unidentified DOGE staffers start working at SSA on the same day. SSA-02 (Scott Coulter) is detailed from NASA. SSA-07 (Marko Elez) is detailed from the DOL. SSA-10 (Ethan Shaotran) arrives from the GSA, and SSA-05 (Cole Killian) is detailed from DOGE itself.
2/20 SSA
Several DOGE staffers working at the agency are identified by Social Security Works (a nonprofit advocacy group).
2/20 Treasury
John York, a senior counselor to Bessent, wrote in a sworn statement that Ryan Wunderly would take over Marko Elez’s work at the BFS.
3/05 CMS
Multiple DOGE staff (Edward Coristine, Marko Elez and Aram Moghaddassi) are granted access to the Healthcare Integrated General Ledger Accounting System (HIGLAS). This system tracks all payments made by Medicare, among other expenditures.
3/05 CMS
Edward Coristine, Zach Terrell, Aram Moghaddassi and Marko Elez are also granted read access to the Integrated Data Repository (IDR), a data warehouse of all Medicare claims.
3/05 CMS
A second wave of DOGE members detailed to HHS (Edward Coristine, Marko Elez and Aram Moghaddassi) are granted read access to the CMS Acquisition Lifestye Management System (CALM), which tracks CMS aquisitions and contracts
3/05 DOGE
The Intercept receives a list of 30 DOGE staffers working within the Executive Office of the President (EOP), including 4 lawyers previously not listed
3/05 DOL
Business Insider reports Marko Elez, Aram Moghaddassi, and Miles B. Collins are new DOGE arrivals at Department of Labor.
3/12 SSA
In a sworn declaration, Florence Felix-Lawson notes “the SSA DOGE Team currently consists of ten SSA employees: four SSA special government employees (Employees 1, 4, 6, and 9) and six detailees to SSA from other government agencies and offices (Employees 2, 3, 5, 7, 8, and 10)”
3/13 SSA
Wired reports that 10 DOGE staffers are currently visible in the Microsoft Teams directory of all employees at SSA
3/13 HHS
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).
3/19 DOL
Marko Elez affirms he has completed his mandatory privacy training at the Department of Labor. This would normally be required before any system access, but he has been at the agency for several weeks.
3/29 HHS
In response to a discovery request made in AFL-CIO vs. DOL, the government provides an incomplete list of DOGE staff who have worked at HHS.
3/29 CMS
In a legal filing, the DOJ identifies 4 DOGE staffers - Edward Coristine, Marko Elez, Luke Farritor and Amy Gleason - as present at CMS. It omits the names of several other staffers with access to the CALM system.
4/11 DHS
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.
4/16 DOGE
Three DOGE staffers – Marko Elez, Edward Coristine and Joe Gebbia – are reported to be working with staff from DHS, the State Department and USCIS on implementing an application process for a $5 Million “Gold Card” visa. It is unclear what agencies they are working for and how this partnership has been structured.

Open Questions

  • Was Marko Elez' appointment extended to be past his NTE date of 2025-06-11 and was his pay of $84,601 annual or just for those 6 months or so?
  • How did DOGE staff from Treasury share their data with the DOGE staff at SSA?
    The NYT reports that DOGE staff at Treasury found what it thought were fraudulent payouts from SSA and shared them with DOGE staff at SSA on 2/10. How did they do this? Treasury testified Marko Elez was the only DOGE person with access and his laptop was secured against data removal. And Elez resigned on 2/7 so he couldn’t have taken his laptop over there. So, how did the data get there?