Watch Musk’s ‘College Dropout’ DOGE Goons Caught on Camera for First Time
Elon Musk’s young foot soldiers at the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) were caught on camera for the first time as they walked into a federal agency building—part of an apparent attempt to shut it down.
A Sunday night episode of investigative newsmagazine 60 Minutes showed three of Elon Musk’s DOGE staffers walking into the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau in Washington, D.C., on Feb. 7.
The brief clip, which was aired multiple times throughout the episode, showed three men wearing jackets and backpacks entering the CFPB premises along with what appeared to be a bodyguard.
“We heard from our colleagues that they’re camped out in the basement,” Hanna Hickman, a CFPB lawyer who was among those purged from the agency, told CBS’ Lesley Stahl. “They’ve got papers up on the windows to keep people from looking in. And they’ve been accessing data, certainly.”
Asked who she thought the three men were, Hickman said they were likely “software engineers, college dropouts.”
“That’s what we’ve heard,” she said. “I think if there was transparency people might feel more confident about what’s happening.”
Three hours after the group of young men walked in, their boss Elon Musk said “Rest in Peace” to the CFPB in a post on X.
President Donald Trump then tasked Office of Management and Budget chief Russell Vought with leading the CFPB in an acting capacity.
Vought quickly announced that he would stop funding the agency and emailed CFPB staff to cease working.
“I have notified the Federal Reserve that CFPB will not be taking its next draw of unappropriated funding because it is not ‘reasonably necessary’ to carry out its duties,” he wrote in an X post on Feb. 8.
Pursuant to the Consumer Financial Protection Act, I have notified the Federal Reserve that CFPB will not be taking its next draw of unappropriated funding because it is not "reasonably necessary" to carry out its duties. The Bureau's current balance of $711.6 million is in fact…
— Russ Vought (@russvought) February 9, 2025
Though the CFPB building was eventually locked, the DOGE lieutenants reportedly remained holed up working in the basement and only came out to pick up lunch orders from Chipotle.
Sources told 60 Minutes that DOGE was granted unprecedented access to the CFPB’s data systems, which house sensitive information that requires training and background checks to handle.
CFPB Chief Operating Officer Adam Martinez said the DOGE workers were given privacy and cybersecurity training. They also signed a nondisclosure agreement.
But the agency’s chief technologist, who resigned, said“those trainings alone… would not be sufficient,” adding that there was “no mention of DOGE employees undergoing a background investigation.”
A senior White House official said Musk was not involved in DOGE operations at the CFPB, as it was Vought handing out orders.
When asked by CBS News what exactly the DOGE staff were doing at the agency, the White House declined to comment.
Members of Musk’s elusive DOGE team were earlier unveiled to be young men—all under 26—with little work experience.
It was not immediately clear if any of the DOGE employees identified thus far appeared in the 60 Minutes broadcast.
Do you know who these DOGE staff are? Email tips@thedailybeast.com.