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Gavin Kliger

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Gavin Kliger is an American software engineer, currently serving as special adviser to the director for information technology of the United States Office of Personnel Management (OPM) and within the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).[1][2]

Education and career

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Kliger attended UC Berkeley, graduating in 2020.[3] Kliger's LinkedIn lists him as later working as a software engineer at LinkedIn and Databricks.[3]

On February 2, 2025, Wired reported Kliger was among a group of 19- to 24-year-old engineers to be appointed to Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).[3][4][5] The same day, Kliger posted an article in his online newsletter titled "Why DOGE: Why I gave up a seven-figure salary to save America".[6][7]

Before 1:00 AM on February 3, 2025, Kliger sent an email from a United States Agency for International Development (USAID) email address to all USAID employees ordering them to work from home, and not to come into the office.[8][9][10] Kliger has no prior experience at the agency or in government. The move was criticized by USAID personnel and Democratic politicians, including Senator Chris Coons, who described the Trump administration as "trying to gut the agency altogether."[9][1]

On February 6, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) staff were told by email that DOGE members (including Kliger) entered the agency building and would require access to CFPB data, systems, and equipment.[11] Kliger was warned about potential conflicts of interest arising from his stock portfolio containing a number of companies which would potentially benefit from any mass layoffs at the CFPB and advised to divest from those positions. Kliger declined to divest his positions,[12] including ones where divestment would be mandatory for a CFPB employee.[13] Kliger was accused of yelling at CFPB staff he kept for a 36-hour shift.[14][15] A mass firing in mid April attempted to reduce the bureau's headcount by approximately 86%, but it has been halted in court.[16][17] Kliger conducted the mass layoffs, which included the ethics lawyers who warned him against financial conflicts of interest.[12][18]

In February Kliger began working at the United States Department of Agriculture to cut the budget and staff among his other appointments.[19]

Kliger also began working at the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) in February.[20] He sought individual level tax information but was blocked from accessing it by IRS administrators, he was allowed access to anonymized data under a working agreement.[21] In April 2025 Wired reported that two DOGE members, Sam Corcos and Kliger, were planning to run a hackathon with the goal of creating an API to interconnect all IRS databases.[22]

In April Kliger began work at the Federal Trade Commission (FTC).[23][24]

Personal life

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In the context of his employment by the government concerns have been raised about his amplification of extremist viewpoints including reposting content from white supremacist Nick Fuentes and misogynistic social media influencer Andrew Tate.[25] The Daily Beast described his online presence as that of an edgelord.[26]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b Ward, Michael R. Gordon, Ken Thomas and Alexander. "Trump Administration Closes USAID Headquarters". WSJ. Retrieved February 3, 2025.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  2. ^ Demirjian, Karoun; Wong, Edward (February 3, 2025). "USAID Staff Told to Stay Home After Elon Musk Says Trump Wants to Close It". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved February 3, 2025.
  3. ^ a b c Elliott, Vittoria. "The Young, Inexperienced Engineers Aiding Elon Musk's Government Takeover". Wired. ISSN 1059-1028. Retrieved February 3, 2025.
  4. ^ Townsend, Chance (February 3, 2025). "Elon Musk's DOGE takeover is reportedly being spearheaded by young college grads". Mashable. Retrieved February 3, 2025.
  5. ^ Anonymous (February 3, 2025). "Elon Musk Is Permanently Deleting Government Agencies". Rolling Stone. Retrieved February 3, 2025.
  6. ^ Henderson, Cameron (February 3, 2025). "Musk signs up university-aged team to dismantle foreign aid". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved February 3, 2025.
  7. ^ Kliger, Gavin (February 3, 2025). "Why DOGE". The Weekly Byte. Archived from the original on February 3, 2025. Retrieved February 3, 2025.
  8. ^ Wong, Edward; Green, Erica L.; Demirjian, Karoun; Crowley, Michael (February 2, 2025). "Top Security Officials at Aid Agency Put on Leave After Denying Access to Musk Team". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved February 3, 2025.
  9. ^ a b Schwartz, Felicia (February 3, 2025). "US aid agency HQ closed after Elon Musk reveals plan to 'shut it down'". Financial Times. Retrieved February 3, 2025.
  10. ^ Anonymous (February 3, 2025). "Elon Musk Is Permanently Deleting Government Agencies". Rolling Stone. Retrieved February 3, 2025.
  11. ^ Kelly, Makena. "DOGE Is Now Inside the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau". Wired. ISSN 1059-1028. Retrieved March 15, 2025.
  12. ^ a b Pearson, Jake (May 7, 2025). "DOGE Aide Who Helped Gut CFPB Was Warned About Potential Conflicts of Interest". ProPublica. Retrieved May 8, 2025.
  13. ^ Pearson, Jake. "A DOGE Aide Involved in Dismantling Consumer Bureau Owns Stock in Companies That Could Benefit From the Cuts Gavin Kliger helped oversee mass firings at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau while holding stock in companies that experts say likely stand to benefit from dismantling that agency — a potential violation of federal ethics laws". propublica.org. Pro Publica. Retrieved May 9, 2025.
  14. ^ "DOGE Goon Accused of Screaming at Workers on 36-Hour Shift". The Daily Beast. April 19, 2025. Retrieved April 19, 2025.
  15. ^ Schwartz, Leo. "Court filings describe DOGE-led, scream-filled, 36-hour mass layoff scramble at consumer protection agency". fortune.com. Fortune. Retrieved May 9, 2025.
  16. ^ Willis, Chris; Jackman, Stefanie; Kim, James; Silverman, Jesse; Sommerfield, Lori (April 18, 2025). "CFPB Implements Mass Layoffs: Union Files Emergency Motion to Show Cause". Consumer Financial Services Law Monitor. Retrieved May 7, 2025.
  17. ^ Willis, Chris; Jackman, Stefanie; Kim, James; Silverman, Jesse; Sommerfield, Lori (April 29, 2025). "Appeals Court Blocks CFPB Layoffs Pending Further Review". Consumer Financial Services Law Monitor. Retrieved May 7, 2025.
  18. ^ Marcus, Josh. "DOGE bro helped fire ethics lawyers who warned him over his $715,000 in banned company stocks: report". independent.co.uk. The Independent. Retrieved May 9, 2025.
  19. ^ Brown, Marcia. "DOGE staffer Gavin Kliger arrives at USDA". politicopro.com. Politico. Retrieved May 9, 2025.
  20. ^ Layne, Nathan. "Exclusive: Top Elon Musk aide arrives at IRS to scrutinize operations, sources say". reuters.com. Reuters. Retrieved May 9, 2025.
  21. ^ Duehren, Andrew. "I.R.S. Bars Musk Ally From Seeing Personal Information". nytimes.com. The New York Times. Retrieved May 9, 2025.
  22. ^ Kelly, Makena. "DOGE Is Planning a Hackathon at the IRS. It Wants Easier Access to Taxpayer Data". Wired. ISSN 1059-1028. Retrieved April 16, 2025.
  23. ^ Gold, Ashley. "Scoop: DOGE staffers move into FTC office". axios.com. Axios. Retrieved May 9, 2025.
  24. ^ Feiner, Lauren; Heath, Alex. "DOGE has arrived at the FTC". theverge.com. The Verge. Retrieved May 9, 2025.
  25. ^ Alper, Alexandra; Satter, Raphael. "Staffer with Elon Musk's DOGE amplified white supremacists online". reuters.com. Reuters. Retrieved February 7, 2025.
  26. ^ Fiallo, Josh (February 18, 2025). "Meet the Gen-Z DOGE Minion Set to Access Taxpayers' Secrets". The Daily Beast. Retrieved February 18, 2025.
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