Latest news with #Coristine
WIRED
2 days ago
- Business
- WIRED
‘Big Balls' Is Officially a Full-Time Government Employee
Jun 4, 2025 11:08 AM The first wave of DOGE staffers was supposed to be gone after 130 days. Instead, core members of the team have signed on for the long haul. Photo-Illustration: Wired Staff;Although Elon Musk has said that he is largely exiting his role at the so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), at least three of his early operatives and key lieutenants throughout his government takeover have recently become full-time government employees. Edward Coristine, Luke Farritor, and Ethan Shaotran's employment designations at the General Services Administration (GSA) have been officially converted to full-time from the restricted special government employee (SGE) classification that limited their time in government to a period of 130 days, according to documentation viewed by WIRED. Coristine, who has gone by 'Big Balls' online and previously worked for a telecommunications firm known for hiring former black hat hackers, was converted to full-time on May 31, along with Farritor. Shaotran became full-time on April 10. WIRED first reported in early February that Coristine, Farritor, and Shaotran were brought on by Musk's DOGE. They then gained unprecedented access to government systems. Before joining DOGE, they had connections to Musk-owned companies: Farritor interned at SpaceX, Coristine worked at Neuralink for three months, and Shaotran participated in an xAI hackathon last October. Since January, all three have obtained access to dozens of federal agencies in addition to GSA, including the Department of Health and Human Services, the Department of Education, the Department of Homeland Security, the Social Security Administration, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, and many others. They have also been tied to major changes to the federal government apparatus: Farritor was closely linked to the dismantling of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and Coristine has reportedly been one of the leaders of the initiative related to President Donald Trump's 'gold card' visas that are sold for $5 million. It's not immediately clear if the new designations affect their abilities to maintain access to other agencies outside of GSA. Coristine, Farritor, and Shaotran, according to documentation viewed by WIRED, each maintain their 'senior advisor' titles. Coristine and Farritor are drawing some of the largest salaries possible for government employees through the 'General Schedule' employee rankings. They have a salary grade of GS-15, one of the highest grades, and Shaotran is one step below at GS-14. When they were special government employees, Coristine, Farritor, and Shaotran did not appear to be drawing salaries at all through GSA, WIRED reported in March. Kyle Schutt, another early DOGE operative, has also appeared to change employment classification at least twice, but currently seems to be listed as a special government employee in documentation seen by WIRED. The White House and GSA did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Despite Musk's apparent departure from the Trump administration last week, DOGE has shown no signs of pausing its work in government agencies. Last week, WIRED reported that there has been a renewed urgency for DOGE-style work at agencies including the Office of Personnel Management, US Department of Agriculture, the Department of Labor, and the Department of the Interior. Federal workers told WIRED they were asked to quickly review and potentially slash contracts, especially those pertaining to IT and human resources. Farritor and Coristine, along with other members of Musk's early DOGE team like Sam Corcos and Gavin Kliger, have met with a number of departments in recent days, while new DOGE affiliates have been detailed to different agencies. DOGE, WIRED reported, also appears to be actively recruiting.
New York Post
04-05-2025
- Business
- New York Post
Musk brings out ‘Big Balls' to explain what teen does at DOGE
Tech baron Elon Musk exposed 'Big Balls' to the world for the first time last week, introducing the 19-year-old software engineer-turned-DOGE worker whose odd nickname has raised eyebrows. 'Big Balls,' whose real name is Edward Coristine, quickly gained national attention because of his age and nickname — with critics pointing to both as evidence that the Department of Government Efficiency was being led by a bunch of baby-faced neophytes. Coristine, appearing on Fox News' 'Jesse Watters Primetime' on Thursday alongside Musk and a coterie of other DOGE employees, said he gave himself the nickname on a lark. 'I just set it as my LinkedIn username,' Coristine said. 'People on LinkedIn take themselves like super seriously, and they're adverse [sic] to risk, and I was like, well, I want to be neither of those things, so I just said it, and honestly, I didn't even think anyone would notice.' Advertisement 3 Edward 'Big Balls' Coristine says his primary task at DOGE is to look for ways to root out waste and fraud. Fox News 3 Coristine, boss Elon Musk and other DOGE workers sat for an interview on 'Jesse Watters Primetime' last week. X/@JesseBWatters Musk, 53, cracked up at Coristine's explanation and quipped, 'LinkedIn is so cringe.' Advertisement Coristine previously ran a company named DiamondCDN during high school. Its services were allegedly used by 'EGodly,' a website run by a gang of cybercriminals, Reuters reported. Coristine is widely reported to be a fervent fan of Musk and a strong believer in DOGE's mission to root out government bloat and inefficiencies. 'Right now, I'm working on some payment computer stuff,' Coristine explained of his responsibilities at DOGE. 'One of our initiatives is to root out fraud and waste, and to do that, we started looking at the payment computers, and as mentioned earlier, there's no accounting of what payments actually go to in the payment computer. 'So, like, you look at a specific line item, like $20 million, and you're like OK, what is this money actually going to? And for the majority of payment systems, it's like, well, we don't really know.' Advertisement Watters pressed him on how he handles situations where the feds don't fully know where the money is going. 3 Musk's time at DOGE is set to wind down at the month's end. AP 'It's a huge cause for concern because, like, the upstream thing, which is distributing the money, literally has no checks and no accountability to the actual American taxpayer, so it's a huge vector for fraud, waste and abuse,' Coristine said. Asked whether government workers respect taxpayer dollars, Coristine replied, 'There's no incentive to if you work in the government. Advertisement 'I think the incentives will always decide the outcomes.' Musk's time as a special government employee is set to wrap up at the end of the month, and he is expected to focus more on his business empire than DOGE. The Post reported last week that the world's richest man is no longer regularly working from the White House as he begins to shift focus away from DOGE.
Yahoo
02-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
DOGE employee 'Big Balls' reveals how he got his name, warns of 'no checks' on government spending
The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) employee nicknamed "Big Balls" told Fox News on Thursday how he got his moniker and detailed his department's latest findings about government fraud. In an interview with Fox News anchor Jesse Watters, the DOGE employee — whose real name is Edward Coristine — disclosed that his nickname originally came from his LinkedIn social media account. "I use it as my LinkedIn username," Coristine told Watters, prompting laughter from the host as well as DOGE leader Elon Musk and the rest of his team at the interview. Fox News Poll: The First 100 Days Of President Trump's Second Term "Well, people on LinkedIn take themselves super seriously, and they're pretty averse to risk, and I was like, 'Well, I want to be neither of those things.' So I just, I set it and honestly, I didn't think anybody would notice," the DOGE employee continued, mocking the career-focused social media platform. Musk piled on, stating, "LinkedIn is so cringe." Read On The Fox News App Coristine, a 19-year-old college student and software developer, drew ire from Democrats and liberal media pundits during DOGE's first few weeks of investigating wasteful and fraudulent spending in the federal government. Many were upset over the young, irreverently named government employee being given access to government records to pursue DOGE's work. Doge Slashes 'Wasteful' 'Problem-solving' Contract Worth $50K In Latest Round Of Eliminations Watters asked Coristine about his latest work within DOGE and what he'd uncovered. He said that he's been looking through U.S. Treasury Department payment computers and finding a multitude of outgoing payments from the federal government that include no details about who they're going to and why. "So one of our initiatives is to root out fraud and waste, and to do that we started looking at the payment computers. And, as mentioned earlier, there's no accounting of what payments actually go to in the payment computer," he said. Coristine continued, "You look at a specific line item — $20 million. You're like, 'OK, what is this money going to?' And for the majority of payment systems, it's like, 'Well, we don't really know.'" Click Here For More Coverage Of Media And Culture He went on to say that the system that distributes government or taxpayer money "literally has no checks and no accountability to the actual American taxpayer. So it's a huge vector for fraud, waste, and abuse." The U.S. Treasury Department and DOGE discovered earlier this week that hundreds of millions of dollars in improper payment requests were identified after the Treasury went live with its first automated payment system last week. The system found $334 million in improper payment requests that were flagged because of missing budget codes, invalid budget codes and budget codes without article source: DOGE employee 'Big Balls' reveals how he got his name, warns of 'no checks' on government spending
Fox News
02-05-2025
- Business
- Fox News
DOGE employee ‘Big Balls' reveals how he got his name, warns of 'no checks' on government spending
The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) employee nicknamed "Big Balls" told Fox News on Thursday how he got his moniker and detailed his department's latest findings about government fraud. In an interview with Fox News anchor Jesse Watters, the DOGE employee – whose real name is Edward Coristine – disclosed that his nickname originally came from his LinkedIn social media account. "I use it as my LinkedIn username," Coristine told Watters, prompting laughter from the host as well as DOGE leader Elon Musk and the rest of his team at the interview. "Well, people on LinkedIn take themselves super seriously, and they're pretty averse to risk, and I was like, 'Well, I want to be neither of those things.' So I just, I set it and honestly, I didn't think anybody would notice," the DOGE employee continued, mocking the career-focused social media platform. Musk piled on, stating, "LinkedIn is so cringe." Coristine, a 19-year-old college student and software developer, drew ire from Democrats and liberal media pundits during DOGE's first few weeks of investigating wasteful and fraudulent spending in the federal government. Many were upset over the young, irreverently named government employee being given access to government records to pursue DOGE's work. Watters asked Coristine about his latest work within DOGE and what he'd uncovered. He said that he's been looking through U.S. Treasury Department payment computers and finding a multitude of outgoing payments from the federal government that include no details about who they're going to and why. "So one of our initiatives is to root out fraud and waste, and to do that we started looking at the payment computers. And, as mentioned earlier, there's no accounting of what payments actually go to in the payment computer," he said. Coristine continued, "You look at a specific line item – $20 million. You're like, 'OK, what it is this money going to?' And for the majority of payment systems, it's like, 'Well, we don't really know.'" He went on to say that the system that distributes government or taxpayer money "literally has no checks and no accountability to the actual American taxpayer. So it's a huge vector for fraud, waste, and abuse." The U.S. Treasury Department and DOGE discovered earlier this week that hundreds of millions of dollars in improper payment requests were identified after the Treasury went live with its first automated payment system last week. The system found $334 million in improper payment requests that were flagged because of missing budget codes, invalid budget codes and budget codes without authorization.
Yahoo
02-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
‘Big Balls' Explains His Nickname During Bonkers DOGE Roundtable
Elon Musk's most infamous Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) foot soldier revealed himself to the public Thursday for the first time, sitting down with his colleagues for a wide-ranging roundtable discussion on Fox News. The 19-year-old DOGE staff member Edward Coristine, known by his online moniker 'Big Balls,' is just one of a number of Gen Z employees ripping up the federal government on behalf of his billionaire boss. Coristine, who works in the State Department's Bureau of Diplomatic Technology, told Fox host Jesse Watters about the origin of his nickname during a special edition of Watters' World Thursday night. 'I just set it as my LinkedIn username,' Coristine said, drawing laughs from Watters and others at the table. 'People on LinkedIn take themselves like super seriously and are pretty averse to risk, and I was like, I want to be neither of those things,' he continued. 'Honestly I didn't think anyone would notice.' Coristine, who was absent during a March gathering of DOGE members on Fox News, explained what his job 'working on computer stuff' entailed. 'One of our initiatives is to root out fraud and waste, and to do that we started looking at computers, and as mentioned earlier, there's no accounting of what payments go to where,' he claimed. 'You look at a specific line item, $20 million. Okay, what is it going to? For the majority of payment systems it's like, we don't really know.' Earlier in the show, Musk and his clan claimed once more that the Social Security Administration (SSA) is rife with fraud due to people over 120 years old receiving benefits. Yet similar claims have been debunked. 'Is the small business administration giving loans to dead people, people over the age of 120?' one DOGE member said. 'The answer was yes and it was around $330 million in total.' Musk joined in: 'A birthday that could not possibly be real, meaning they were over 115 years old... Safe to say if anybody is in the system as 115 years or older, that is fake.' Yet, as a former SSA commissioner said when Musk first went public alleging that 150-year-olds were claiming benefits, the reason for this is the coding system in place, which commonly uses May 20, 1875 as a date when a birthdate is missing or invalid. The DOGE crew also discussed their experiences at other government agencies— including one man who visited the federal 'retirement cave,' a facility in Boyers, Pennsylvania where the entire federal government's retirement paperwork is apparently done by hand. The existence of the facility shows the need for widespread IT upgrades across government, he said. Musk also offered specific examples of government waste, arguing that only a fraction of taxpayer funds reach their designated recipients. 'One of the extreme examples of non-accountability in some cases is what has occurred with small entities. The Inter-American Foundation is one of the agencies we visited where, you know, they get $50 million a year, congressional money, for things like farming in Peru,' he said. 'That's a real example. Improving the marketability of peas in Guatemala. Fruit jam. You might expect in the private sector, nonprofit, 80 or 90 percent of their money to grantees. In the case of IAF, that was 58 percent,' he claimed. 'So the other half goes towards management, travel. An example is that even if you agree with supporting alpaca farmers in Peru, actually most of the money never made it out of D.C. It's going into the pockets of people in the neighborhood.' Musk and company's primetime interview Thursday seems to be a bookend to the billionaire's controversial stint in the Trump administration, which saw him slash the federal government at nearly all levels—though he admitted to making a few mistakes along the way. Musk will be leaving his role at DOGE soon to attend to his businesses. Tesla, for instance, has seen a lackluster first quarter due to Musk's unpopularity and the effect of Donald Trump's tariffs, which Musk himself opposed. 'Starting next month, May, my time allocation to DOGE will drop significantly,' Musk said on an earnings call for the electric vehicle manufacturer last week. Trump addressed Musk's impending departure during a Cabinet meeting on Wednesday, while praising DOGE's efforts. 'We all want to thank you for your help,' Trump told Musk at a Cabinet meeting Wednesday. 'You really have sacrificed a lot.'
