Wired reports:

Although Elon Musk has said that he is largely exiting his role at the so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), at least three of his early operatives and key lieutenants throughout his government takeover have recently become full-time government employees.

Edward Coristine, Luke Farritor, and Ethan Shaotran’s employment designations at the General Services Administration (GSA) have been officially converted to full-time from the restricted special government employee classification that limited their time in government to a period of 130 days, according to documentation viewed by WIRED.

Coristine, who has gone by “Big Balls” online and previously worked for a telecommunications firm known for hiring former blackhat hackers, was converted to full time on May 31, along with Farritor. Shaotran became full time on April 10.

WIRED first reported in early February that Coristine, Farritor, and Shaotran were brought on by Musk’s DOGE. They then gained unprecedented access to government systems. Before joining DOGE, they had connections to Musk-owned companies: Farritor interned at SpaceX, Coristine worked at Neuralink for three months, and Shaotran participated in an xAI hackathon last October.

Since January, all three have obtained access to dozens of federal agencies in addition to GSA, including the Department of Health and Human Services, the Department of Education, the Department of Homeland Security, the Social Security Administration, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, and many others. They have also been tied to major changes to the federal government apparatus: Farritor was closely linked to the dismantling of the United States Agency for International Development, and Coristine has reportedly been one of the leaders of the initiative related to President Donald Trump’s “gold card” visas that are sold for $5 million. [Continue reading…]