--- title: "One of Elon Musk’s DOGE Kids Just Had an Explosive Screaming Tantrum" description: "As 20-something DOGE operatives continue to plunder the federal government on behalf of Elon Musk, tempers are flying high." date: "2025-02-06" modified: "2025-02-06" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/elon-musk-doge-kid-screaming-tantrum" categories: - "Elon Musk" - "Future Society" - "The Industrialists" tags: - "doge" - "elon musk" - "government" - "the digest" --- # One of Elon Musk’s DOGE Kids Just Had an Explosive Screaming Tantrum ![As 20-something DOGE operatives continue to plunder the federal government on behalf of Elon Musk, tempers are flying high.]() *\Image: Getty / Futurism\* ## Screaming Fit As [20-something operatives]() — at least one with only a high school degree — continue to plunder the federal government on behalf of billionaire Elon Musk's so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), tempers are flying high. As the [*Washington Post* reports](), in one particularly eyebrow-raising incident a young DOGE staffer reporedly threw an explosive screaming tantrum, calling senior Office of Personnel Management developers "idiots," as one official told the newspaper. The outburst echoes Musk's infamously abrasive and often [abusive management style](), highlighting commonalities between the billionaire and his [astonishingly unqualified]() minions, who range between the ages of 19 and 25, and include interns at his companies and a young man [who goes by the moniker]() "Big Balls" (it's unclear which of these whippersnappers had the hissy fit reported by *WaPo*.) ## Calling for Daddy Experts have warned that the youths' activities — reportedly including [installing backdoors]() and making unproven changes to government agencies' software systems — could make the US government vulnerable to hacking by foreign adversaries. "It’s like you’re defending some medieval castle and someone comes in and starts firing all the archers who are positioned to defend it," a former US intelligence official told *WaPo*. "You let your defenses down. It’s a perfect time to strike." Exactly how far DOGE has gotten in accessing extremely sensitive information — actions [deemed by many as outright illegal]() — remains to be seen. Staffers have been extremely secretive about the department's operations. Trump has also cleared their way, [issuing an executive order]() that allows DOGE to ignore existing security clearance requirements. Staffers working on Musk's behalf to slash the federal government's budget have infiltrated a growing list of government agencies, including the [US Treasury](), the [National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration](), [Medicare and Medicaid](), and [USAID]() — not to mention the Office of Personnel Management, where the screaming tantrum took place. Existing government employees have been shocked by the scope of the data the staffers have been able to access without much opposition. "It’s highly likely they’re improperly accessing, transferring and storing highly sensitive data outside of the environments it was intended to be contained within," British cybersecurity expert and hacker Marcus Hutchins, who [rose to fame]() for fighting off a WannaCry ransomware attack in 2017, told *WaPo*. "If I were a nation like China, Russia or Iran, I’d be having a field day with a bunch of college kids running around with sensitive federal government data on unencrypted hard drives," he added. **More on DOGE:** *[There's Actually an Incredibly Easy Way for Elon Musk to Trim $2 Trillion of Government Spending: Cut Funding for Nuclear Weapons]()* ## Author I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()