DOGE staffer resigns after reporters uncover racist posts

Marko Elez — the 25-year-old Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) staffer who has reportedly been combing through the Treasury Department’s payment systems — resigned from his position after the Wall Street Journal uncovered an old social media account linked to him with numerous posts promoting racism and eugenics. “99% of Indian H1Bs will be replaced by slightly smarter LLMs, they’re going back don’t worry guys,” the user of the since-deleted X account @nullllptr posted in December, amid the H-1B debate that divided the tech-right. The account’s previous handle was @marko_elez, according to the Journal’s report. Other posts called for repealing the Civil Rights Act and reinstating a “eugenic immigration policy.” Elez — a former employee of SpaceX, Starlink, and X — was one of the young DOGE employees tasked with spearheading Elon Musk’s takeover of the federal government. As Wired previously reported, Elez was among the DOGE staffers who had direct, administrator-level privileges on the Treasury Department’s payment systems. Far from an apolitical effort to cut down expenses, DOGE has attempted to root out so-called “DEI” — short for diversity, equity, and inclusion — programs across the federal government, slashing funding for grants and entire government agencies that Musk and his allies claim promote a “woke” agenda, including USAID and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. This is by no means the first time that a Trump administration staffer has resigned or been fired after reporters uncovered racist comments or, in some cases, ties to white nationalists. Still, Elez’s resignation is somewhat surprising given other recent staffing decisions within the administration. Earlier this week, ABC News reported that the State Department would be hiring Darren Beattie, a former Trump speechwriter who was fired in 2018 after reports emerged that he had spoken at a conference that had connections to white nationalists. (The White House appointed Beattie to another job in 2020.) Beattie, a former journalist, has celebrated the Trump administration’s anti-DEI crusade — and unlike others in the administration, has been explicit about the goal of dismantling diversity and civil rights programs. “Competent white men must be in charge if you want things to work,” Beattie posted on X in October. “Unfortunately, our entire national ideology is predicated on coddling the feelings of women and minorities, and demoralizing competent white men.” Beattie’s post and the X account linked to Elez are two examples of what the writer John Ganz has referred to as the “groyperfication” of young conservative staffers. Extremely online young right-wingers are increasingly steeped in an ecosystem dominated by anons who regularly post about eugenics, white supremacy, and the Great Replacement conspiracy theory. “Just for the record,” reads another post from the account linked to Elez, “I was racist before it was cool.” Correction, February 7th: Elez was a former employee of Starlink, not Starling.