Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (Doge) is facing controversy after one of its young members, Marko Elez, resigned following allegations linking him to a racist social media account.
Elez, 25, previously worked at SpaceX before joining Doge, the cost-cutting advisory unit Musk helped establish. Reports indicate that he was connected to a now-deleted account that posted racist and eugenicist content.
The White House confirmed Elez’s resignation but didn’t explain why. However, according to media reports, the social media account linked to him had a history of inflammatory posts.
One of the statements from the account in July read, “Just for the record, I was racist before it was cool.” Another post from September stated, “You could not pay me to marry outside of my ethnicity,” while another one bluntly said, “Normalize Indian hate.”
These posts have since been deleted, but the damage was already done.
Musk, never one to shy away from controversy, responded by launching a poll on his platform, X, asking whether Elez should be reinstated.
Though he didn’t mention Elez by name, the timing made it clear who he was referring to. By Friday morning, over 385,000 people had voted, with 78% supporting Elez’s return.
Musk later responded to a user who told him to address the racist content, simply replying, “True.” However, he hasn’t ruled out reinstating Elez.
The incident comes as Doge faces increasing scrutiny over its role in Trump’s second-term government. The advisory group has been at the center of major cost-cutting measures, some of which have sparked legal challenges.
Just a day before Elez’s resignation, a U.S. judge blocked one of Doge’s key initiatives offering incentives for millions of government employees to voluntarily quit.
Critics argue that while Doge claims to be cutting government waste, some of its policies could leave vital agencies severely understaffed.
Musk has also been pushing to dissolve USAID, the agency responsible for international development programs. If successful, this would mark a shift in U.S. foreign policy, as thousands of employees both domestic and overseas are set to be placed on administrative leave.
Only a small fraction of the workforce is expected to remain active.With Doge now under the microscope and Musk’s influence in government growing, the controversy over Elez’s resignation adds to the larger debate about how far these reforms should go.
Some see Musk’s efforts as necessary, while others view them as reckless experiments that could destabilize public institutions.
Whether Elez will return to Doge remains to be seen, but the episode has once again shown how Musk’s unconventional approach to leadership continues to stir debate.
Leave feedback about this