Nate Cavanaugh
Wrecker
, coder, age 28
A former tech entrepeneur, Nate Cavanaugh was initially spotted as one of the DOGE staffers interviewing GSA federal staff to determine layoffs. Since March however, he has been the de facto leader of DOGE’s sustained attacks against multiple independent agencies such as the NEH or IMLS. These attacks begin with Nate offering IT Modernization assistance from the GSA and then escalate through the White House firing agency leadership and naming Nate (or an associate) as the new acting agency head. Once in power, he quickly places all employees on administrative leave and starts firing staff and cancelling grants. Much like a vampire, if he shows up at the door of your agency, do not let him inside.
Positions
| Position | Dates | Notes |
|---|---|---|
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2/03
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appointed ($120,500) Wired | |
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2/21
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likely detailed «verified via court filing» court doc | |
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2/28-4/04
removed
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detail «agency contact was earlier, but assuming MOU signed when Marocco seized power» court doc | |
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3/04-3/24
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likely detailed «verified via court filing» court doc | |
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c.3/13
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likely detailed «Verified via court filing» court doc | |
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3/22
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likely detailed «Linked to MCC by NPR, start date guessed from disruption there» NPR | |
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3/25
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appointed President «After the rest of board was ousted, Nate was named President of the agency by Marco Rubio and Pete Hegseth. Voided by court order on 2025-05-19 but restored by appeals court on 2025-06-27» court doc | |
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3/31
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likely detailed «Based on initial reports» The Handbasket | |
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c.4/09
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likely detailed «Senate Democrats note that Cavanaugh has a commerce email address. Guessing date is around detail to MBDA.» official letter | |
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c.4/09
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likely detailed «inferred from disruptions at MBDA starting» court doc | |
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4/16
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likely detailed «Spotted by media» Bloomberg | |
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4/28
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likely detailed «Spotted by media» Politico | |
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5/14
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likely detailed «Reported by media» The Handbasket | |
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5/21
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likely detailed «Email cited mentioned he was from DOGE, but assuming detail from GSA» The Handbasket |
Systems
| System | Dates | Notes |
|---|---|---|
|
Microsoft Entra ID
c.3/12
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c.3/12 | Microsoft Entra ID
A centralized identity provider used to support single-sign-on (SSO) and centralize access control for agencies. (NEH) admin access «inferred because he sent emails from what looks like a global admin account for Entra» court doc |
Events
| Agency | Date | Event |
|---|---|---|
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c.2/18
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Sighting:
Frank Schuler is introduced on a video call meeting at the GSA by Nate Cavanaugh.
(fuzz: Exact date is not provided in the article)
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2/20
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Sighting:
IAF President Sara Aviel learns that DOGE will be visiting her agency. That afternoon, she meets Nate Cavanaugh and Ethan Shaotran who both introduce themselves as GSA employees. They showed little interest in a discussion on efficiency initiatives at the agency and stated they just wanted access to systems.
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2/21
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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
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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
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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
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2/24
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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
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2/28
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Disruption:
Peter Marocco convenes an emergency board meeting (where the emergency is that Trump issued an executive order), asserting that means he can avoid the mandatory 1-week notification to the board of the agency. In attendance at the meeting are Ethan Shaotran and Nate Cavanaugh. This is where he declares himself the new President and Acting CIO of the IAF.
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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 in his declared capacity as Chairman of the Board.
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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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3/05
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Disruption:
Nate Cavanaugh sends Ward Brehm an email demanding to know by what authority he is the President/CFO of USADF.
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3/06
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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
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3/12
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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.
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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 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
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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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3/20
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Directory:
Wired Magazine list DOGE staff stationed within GSA, all of whom were listed on GSA payroll on March 20, the same day Stephen Ehikian claimed there were no DOGE staff in the agency.
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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 should have one or the staffing to fill it.
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3/31
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Access:
DOGE gains admin access to IMLS systems for monitoring its grants and sending emails. The person is not named, but this is likely Nate Cavanaugh.
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3/31
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3/31
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Disruption:
DOGE wrecker Nate Cavanaugh returns to the IMLS and notifies the entire staff of the agency that they are being put on administrative leave up to 90 days effective immediately.
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4/01
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4/02
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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
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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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4/04
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Legal:
Sara Aviel discovers that a team@iaf.gov created for the use of Ethan Shaotran and Nate Cavanaugh had deactivated the admin access for the remaining IAF employee the day before Aviel’s return by orders of a court as President of the agency.
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c.4/07
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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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4/08
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4/16
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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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4/17
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Disruption:
According to a sworn declaration by an employee of MBDA, Nate Cavanaugh sends emails terminating MBDA grants under the authority of Keith Sonderling, who is the acting undersecretary of the MBDA
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4/22
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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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4/28
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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
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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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4/30
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Oversight:
Democratic members of the US Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation send a letter to Keith Sonderling requesting details on his appointment as acting undersecretary of the MBDA and other information about DOGE’s takeover and destruction of the agency.
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5/13
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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
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5/14
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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
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Sighting:
Staff at the MSPB receive an email informing them that Nate Cavanaugh will be onboarded on May 21 as a detailee “from DOGE” and that he is expected to spend several weeks reviewing contracts and spending. He will be working remotely.
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5/19
|
Legal:
The judge presiding over the USIP’s lawsuit against the Trump administration rules that the firing of the agency’s board was illegal, rendering all subsequent actions taken by Nate Cavanaugh as President null and void.
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6/27
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Legal:
A federal appeals court issues a stay on a lower-court ruling that blocked DOGE from taking over the USIP. In their ruling, the appeals panel noted that President Trump would face “irreparable harm from not being able to fully exercise his executive powers,” should the injunction be allowed to stand. This restores Nate Cavanaugh as President of the USIP.
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7/12
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7/21
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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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