DOGE Isn’t Dead. Here’s What Its Operatives Are Doing Now

to a member For Elon Musk’s so-called government efficiency department, the past few months have been “crazy.” In a slideshow of photos and videos posted to Instagram last month, Yat Choi — who joined DOGE this spring — posted clips of Trump administration officials dancing to “YMCA” on the White House lawn; People loading luggage into what appear to be private jets; And the house parties were decorated with American flags and attendees wore red, white and blue hats and carried red Solo cups and cans of High Noon.

On Instagram, Choi described his work as ongoing and announced he was returning to the underground Pennsylvania mine where federal retirement claims are processed. “Like Jigga [Jay-Z] I showed them the blueprints in April, now going back to the mine to lead pilots next week,” wrote Choi, who previously worked as an engineer at Airbnb and has referred to Canada as home in other Instagram posts. Choi did not respond to a request for comment.

It’s not just Choi. Many of the original young and inexperienced DOGE technologists whose identities were first reported by WIRED appear to still be on the trail of federal agencies. Edward “Big Balls” Coristin, Gavin Kliger, Marco Alez, Sky Bobba, and Ethan Shotran all still claim to be affiliated with DOGE or the US government. So do other tech workers in Silicon Valley and Musk’s companies like xAI and SpaceX. Coristine, Kliger, Allez, Bobba and Shotran did not respond to requests for comment.

The DOGE ethos – which is characterized by cutting contracts and government staff, consolidating data across agencies, and importing private sector practices – is fully in place. While many media reports have suggested that DOGE is all but gone, DOGE affiliates are working as developers, designers, and even leading agencies in powerful roles throughout the federal government.

“This is absolutely false,” a USDA source said after reporting that DOGE was breached. “They’re actually burrowing into agencies like ticks.”

DOGE “just got converted,” an IRS employee told WIRED.

While DOGE is no longer catching up with the government in its policy of moving in fast and breaking things, DOGE allies are digging in for the long haul – and Silicon Valley-sized fingerprints remain all over the way agencies are run.

Over the past few weeks, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has launched coding tests for hundreds of its technology employees, quizzing them on their “technical proficiency.” According to a source familiar with the situation, the decision to launch these tests was taken by DOGE operator and Treasury Chief Information Officer Sam Korkos. The source says Corcos wants to overhaul the IRS’s 8,500-person IT department. It is part of a larger “modernization” process underway at the US Treasury.