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By Jesus Mesa
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Elon Musk has ignited a fresh debate on social media after launching a poll asking whether a former staff member of his Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) should be reinstated.
The staffer, Marko Elez, resigned following revelations of racist social media posts, leading to public scrutiny and political tensions.
Why It Matters
Elez, a 25-year-old software engineer who previously worked for Musk's companies X (formerly Twitter) and SpaceX, was appointed to a role within the U.S. Treasury Department under DOGE, where he had access to sensitive financial systems.
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His resignation came after The Wall Street Journal inquired with the White House about his association with a social media account that promoted racism and eugenics on X, including advocating for a "eugenic immigration policy" and calling for the repeal of the Civil Rights Act.
What To Know
Musk's poll on his X account asked users: "Bring back @DOGE staffer who made inappropriate statements via a now-deleted pseudonym?"
With over 380,000 votes cast, the response favored reinstatement—78 percent voted "Yes," while 22 percent voted "No."
Elez's posts, which included statements such as "Normalize Indian hate" and "Just for the record, I was racist before it was cool," resurfaced after The Wall Street Journal and other media outlets exposed them.
Though Elez later deleted his X account, archival records reviewed by Newsweek show a pattern of discriminatory rhetoric. The deleted @nullllptr account previously used the handle @marko_elez.
Following the media coverage, the White House confirmed Elez's resignation.
Who Is Marko Elez?
Elez graduated from Rutgers University in 2021 with a degree in computer science and has worked at SpaceX, Starlink, and X, focusing on search AI.
His appointment to the Treasury Department had already raised concerns, as he was one of two DOGE appointees granted access to a critical government payment processing system that handles trillions of dollars annually. This led to lawsuits from federal employee unions and advocacy groups, who argued that sensitive financial data was being inappropriately shared.
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What People Are Saying
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told Bloomberg regarding vetting one of the two U.S. Treasury employees from DOGE: "These are highly trained professionals. This is not some roving band running around doing things."
Bill Kristol, the director of Defending Democracy Together, on X: "Racism and eugenics in DOGE world? Color me shocked."
Senator Chuck Schumer, at a press conference on Monday: "Donald Trump gave DOGE access to America's personal refund data. He gave DOGE access to people's Medicare and Medicaid benefits, disability data, veteran benefit data. Worst of all, we don't know what DOGE intends to do with this information."
What Happens Next
It remains unclear whether Musk will reappoint Elez, as the Tesla CEO is known for making some decisions based on social media polls.
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