Elon Musk’s associates—ranging from loyal aides to random college students and former interns of Musk’s companies—have taken command of the General Services Administration (GSA), a vital government body responsible for overseeing federal office spaces and technology. According to leaked documents obtained by WIRED, this group is already trying to leverage White House security credentials for unusual access to GSA technologies, rolling out new AI software, and reshaping the office to reflect Musk’s vision.
Several individuals who assisted Musk in his Twitter takeover over two years ago are now official employees of the GSA. Nicole Hollander, who famously took up residence in Twitter’s headquarters as an unofficial member of Musk’s transition crew, enjoys high-level access within the agency and has an official government email, as per documents reviewed by WIRED. Her husband, Steve Davis, who also spent nights in the office, has assumed a key position within Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). Thomas Shedd, the newly appointed head of the Technology Transformation Services at GSA, previously spent eight years as a software engineer at Tesla. Edward Coristine, a former intern at Neuralink, has joined the ranks alongside Ethan Shaotran, a Harvard senior developing his OpenAI-supported scheduling assistant and who participated in an xAI hackathon.
“I believe these individuals are not genuinely interested in helping the federal government serve the American populace,” asserts a current GSA employee speaking anonymously due to concerns about punitive measures. “They seem to be operating as if they are executing a hostile takeover of a tech enterprise.”
The team appears to be advancing Musk’s plan to drastically reduce the size of the federal government. They are currently aiming for a 50 percent cut in expenditures across all GSA-managed offices, as indicated by documents obtained by WIRED.
There are also indications that the group is trying to use IT credentials from the Executive Office of the President to gain access to GSA laptops and internal infrastructure. Typically, access to agency systems is reserved for employees of those agencies, sources state. While Musk’s team may be seeking improved laptops and equipment from the GSA, there are concerns that the directives outlined in the DOGE executive order would provide them with broad access to GSA systems and information. This could encompass sensitive procurement details, internal data from all GSA systems and services, and internal monitoring tools designed to oversee GSA employees as part of standard auditing and security practices.
This level of access could enable Musk’s associates to remotely access laptops, eavesdrop on meetings, read emails, and more, according to a former Biden official who spoke to WIRED on Friday.
“Allowing DOGE personnel, many of whom are not government employees, unrestricted access to internal government systems and sensitive information poses a significant security threat to both the federal government and the American public,” the former Biden official stated. “In addition to being able to review sensitive procurement information regarding major government contracts, DOGE could also actively monitor government employees.”
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The newly installed GSA leadership has made it a priority to downsize the agency’s real estate holdings, terminate unnecessary contracts, and implement AI tools across the federal government, based on internal documents and conversations with informed sources. Earlier this week, at a GSA office in Washington, D.C., a whiteboard displayed three objectives in a spacious, empty room: “Spending Cuts $585 m, Regulations Removed, 15, Square feet sold/terminated 203,000 sf,” according to a photo seen by WIRED. The authorship of the notes is unclear, but they seem to track cuts made or proposed by the leadership team.
“We have informed the commercial real estate market that two GSA properties will soon be available for sale, and we have canceled three leases,” Stephen Ehikian, the newly appointed acting administrator of the GSA, confirmed in an email to staff on Tuesday, reiterating the agency’s commitment to reducing real estate expenses. “This is the first step in right-sizing our real estate portfolio.”
