DOGE Staffers' Massive Salaries Exposed, Contradicting Musk's Claim Their 'Compensation Is Zero'

Despite Elon Musk's repeated claims that staffers at his Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) work for "zero" compensation, an investigation has revealed that several DOGE employees are drawing six-figure, taxpayer-funded salaries.

Key figures within DOGE, the cost-cutting advisory group Musk leads under President Donald Trump, are being paid through the General Services Administration (GSA). Among them, Jeremy Lewin, tasked with dismantling USAID, is earning over $167,000 annually.

Kyle Schutt, a software engineer embedded at the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, is making $195,200—the maximum salary allowed for a federal employee. Nate Cavanaugh, a 28-year-old tech entrepreneur playing a leading role in DOGE's GSA restructuring efforts, is earning $120,500.

These revelations, uncovered by WIRED, stand in direct contrast to Musk's previous statements. Last November, as he and Vivek Ramaswamy recruited for DOGE, Musk insisted that working for the agency would be "tedious" and compensated at zero dollars.

However, the investigation found that DOGE's budget has ballooned to $40 million, and its recruitment page now openly discusses "full-time, salaried positions" for engineers and other specialists.

"It does seem worth understanding what these employees are being paid," Don Moynihan, a public policy professor at the University of Michigan told WIRED. "Especially if they are being paid significantly more than technologists who have been fired, given that many of the DOGE staff have less relevant experience."

Meanwhile, Musk—the world's richest man with a net worth of over $350 billion—remains an unpaid DOGE staffer. But his companies have benefit from government support, receiving $38 billion in federal funding over two decades, according to the Washington Post.

As Musk promotes transparency in government, critics continue to call attention to the potential conflicts of interest concealed by a lack of transparency in DOGE operations.