Edward Coristine – the 19-year-old who quit Elon Musk’s controversial so-called “department of government efficiency” (Doge) earlier this week, where he gained notoriety in part for having used the online moniker “Big Balls” – has in fact been given a new government job, this time at the Social Security Administration (SSA).
Coristine, whose lack of experience and super-loyalty to Musk saw him become a flashpoint for outrage at Doge’s ruthless but haphazard efforts to slash government spending and fire thousands of workers, resigned from Doge earlier this week.
However a spokesperson for the SSA, Stephen McGraw, told Wired magazine that Coristine was now working for that department.
“His work will be focused on improving the functionality of the Social Security website and advancing our mission of delivering more efficient service to the American people,” McGraw told Wired.
Coristine may have previously worked for the SSA, but reporting on his employment history is conflicted.
Doge caused chaos early on in the new Trump administration by muscling into dozens of departments and forcing access to computer systems, in a blaze of publicity and combative announcements.
A high school graduate, Coristine’s experience before Doge was largely limited to a few months working for Neuralink – which Musk owns – and as an intern for a cybersecurity company, which Bloomberg reported fired him for leaking company secrets. Reuters also reported that Coristine had provided tech support to a cybercrime gang that had bragged about trafficking in stolen data and harassing an FBI agent.
At Doge, Coristine was dropped into several major government agencies as they went about slashing services and terminating thousands of workers.
Last month, Reuters reported that Coristine was one of two Doge associates promoting the use of artificial intelligence across the federal bureaucracy.
Musk also left Doge in May after months working by Donald Trump’s side then falling out with him. Doge, however, continued to operate until Trump’s budget chief, hard right nationalist Russell Vought, who says he wants government employees “in trauma”.
On Friday the Washington Post reported, citing anonymous sources, that Doge’s latest target was the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), in an attempt to slash gun restrictions.
Nick Robins-Early and Reuters contributed reporting
