President Donald Trump has unleashed Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (D.O.G.E.) on the Pentagon’s $824 billion budget, and honestly, it was about time. The announcement came today during a press conference at the White House with Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba.

Trump shared that they are gonna be auditing the Defense Department after it failed its 7th consecutive audit. The Pentagon, drowning in financial confusion, couldn’t explain 63% of its $3.8 trillion assets in 2024, as Cryptopolitan reported. 

In 2022, it lost track of 61% of its $3.5 trillion assets, and economists say it may take until 2031 before they clean up their mess. Trump’s decision to use D.O.G.E. comes as pressure builds on government agencies to tighten their spending.

Elon’s team stirs trouble

Meanwhile, three D.O.G.E. staffers are currently inside the Department of Energy in preparations to audit it following the success with USAID and also the education department. Secretary Chris Wright confirmed their presence in an interview with CNBC but said the team doesn’t have access to nuclear secrets, squashing rumors that the nerds might be snooping around sensitive areas. But that hasn’t stopped all the Democratic rage about the team’s role.

Luke Farritor, a 23-year-old former SpaceX intern, was identified by CNN as one of the D.O.G.E. staffers working at the department. He was given access to IT systems like email and Microsoft 365, despite objections from government lawyers and security officials.

Wright defended the access, comparing the D.O.G.E. team to “young consultants” brought in to improve efficiency. Farritor’s access has worsen the privacy concerns. “They’re not snooping around sensitive data,” Wright insisted. But the Dems are asking how a 23-year-old even has the power to casually get through the government’s gatekeepers. “I know exactly who they are,” he added. “They’re being checked by security.”

Then came Marko Elez. The 25-year-old D.O.G.E. staffer resigned Thursday after The Wall Street Journal exposed him for running a racist social media account. The federal government had just approved Elez’s access to the Treasury Department’s payment system, which processes trillions in federal payments. That access was restricted after a Judge made an order banning Elon from the Treasury.

Vice President JD Vance quickly backed calls to rehire Elez, saying, “We shouldn’t let stupid tweets ruin someone’s life.” Trump echoed Vance’s sentiment at the White House press conference. “If the vice president said that, I’m with him,” the president said, brushing off questions. Then Elon fueled the debate by launching a poll on X (formerly Twitter) asking users if Elez should return to the D.O.G.E. team. 385,247 voted and 78% of them said “Yes,” while only 22% said ‘No.”

Democrats push Elon harder

As mentioned, the Left is very unhappy with Elon right now. Senate Finance Committee Ranking Member Ron Wyden, a Democrat from Oregon, sent a scathing letter demanding a full breakdown of who had access to what within the Treasury. His letter specifically targeted Elez’s brief but critical “read-write” access to the department’s payment system.

Wyden’s letter calls out Treasury officials for misleading Congress. The department had previously claimed that D.O.G.E. staffers only had “read-only” access. But reports now confirm that Elez had “read-write” access, allowing him to execute code changes during his time there. “If this is true, Treasury deliberately misled or outright lied to Congress,” Wyden wrote. He demanded logs showing what Elez did while he had access and for how long.

Treasury’s February 4 letter also claimed that Tom Krause, a senior D.O.G.E. official, had undergone a full background check and had Top Secret security clearance. Wyden isn’t buying it. He asked whether the same standards applied to Elez and others on the D.O.G.E. team. His letter specifically asks if officials missed Elez’s online activity during the vetting process.

“If the vetting process didn’t catch this, something’s seriously wrong,” Wyden wrote. He also raised concerns about Dan Katz, a senior official, allegedly directing Treasury staff to allow D.O.G.E. personnel access to pause foreign aid payments and control federal spending flows.

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