Marko Elez, a former Department of Government Efficiency (D.O.G.E) staffer, has been reinstated in a federal role despite his resignation earlier this month after getting exposed for having racist and eugenicist views. According to a Bloomberg report today, Elez is now back on the government payroll, working at the Social Security Administration (SSA)—a federal agency that manages benefits for nearly 70 million Americans. Elez’s return to public service comes after heavy support from Elon Musk, President Donald Trump, and Vice President JD Vance. Trump’s administration backed Elez, dismissing his past social media posts as irrelevant to his job performance. “Stupid social media activity shouldn’t ruin a kid’s life,” Vance said at the time, defending the decision to bring Elez back. Elez is a former SpaceX and X engineer, and he previously had an office at the Treasury Department, according to the Bloomberg report . After his resignation, Elez’s government email address was deactivated, but records now list him as an active SSA employee under an Executive Office of the President email domain. Meanwhile, D.O.G.E’s acting commissioner, Leland Dudek, was removed from his SSA role after allegedly leaking internal information to Musk’s team. Despite this, Dudek now leads efficiency operations within the agency, overseeing D.O.G.E staffers embedded in federal departments. Dudek has insisted that D.O.G.E only has “read-only access” to SSA systems, but concerns remain about how much control Musk’s team actually wields. Elez’s return comes weeks after online posts surfaced linking him to racist ideology and eugenics. According to a Wall Street Journal report, Elez—posting under a pseudonym—called for rolling back the Civil Rights Act and made multiple racist remarks. “Normalize Indian hate,” one of his posts read. In another, he wrote, “Just for the record, I was racist before it was cool.” He also stated his refusal to date outside his ethnicity, saying, “You could not pay me to marry outside of my ethnicity.” After public backlash, Elez deleted the posts. His resignation came swiftly, but support from Musk and Trump helped push him back into government work. Musk and Trump push D.O.G.E savings plan Elez’s reinstatement coincides with Musk’s latest plan—to redirect savings from D.O.G.E’s cost-cutting measures directly to American households. At the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), Musk said he had discussed the proposal with Trump, who expressed support. “I talked to the president, and he is supportive,” Musk said. “It sounds like that is something we are going to do.” The plan—initially suggested by investor James Fishback—proposes sending $5,000 checks to every American household if D.O.G.E meets its $2 trillion government spending cut target. D.O.G.E claims it has already saved $55 billion, largely by canceling federal contracts and suspending thousands of government workers. Trump on Wednesday said he was considering sending “20 per cent of the D.O.G.E savings to American citizens” and using a further fifth to pay down the national debt. He said the move might encourage Americans to come forward with examples of government fraud and waste. Republicans are divided over “D.O.G.E Dividend” plan Despite Trump’s support, Republican lawmakers remain divided over the idea of sending federal savings directly to citizens. House Speaker Mike Johnson, a Trump ally, criticized the proposal, saying it goes against conservative fiscal policy. “Politically, that would be great for us—you send everybody a check,” Johnson said at CPAC last night. “But if you think about our core principles, fiscal responsibility is what we do as conservatives. We have a $36 trillion debt.” Florida’s Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis, a Trump loyalist running for Congress, also raised concerns. In a CNBC interview, he said, “If it’s a $5,000 check, I’ve got some heartburn.” Republicans have long blamed pandemic-era stimulus payments under Joe Biden’s administration for worsening inflation. The $1.9 trillion COVID relief package remains a controversial talking point, and many Republicans fear that another round of direct payments—funded by D.O.G.E savings—could fuel inflation again. But Trump’s National Economic Council Director, Kevin Hassett, dismissed those concerns. Speaking at a White House briefing, Hassett said: “If we don’t spend government money and we give it back to people, then if they spend it all, you’re even. But they’re probably going to save a lot of it, in which case you’re reducing inflation.” Cryptopolitan Academy: How to Write a Web3 Resume That Lands Interviews - FREE Cheat Sheet
