19-year-old DOGE staffer with eyebrow-raising nickname gets new gig
A familiar face is returning to the federal government just a couple of days after he was reportedly resigning from his post.
Edward Coristine, 19, who goes by the internet moniker "Big Balls," has taken a position in the Social Security Administration two days after leaving the Department of Government Efficiency, which was founded by Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk at the beginning of the second Trump administration, Wired reported Thursday.
“[Coristine] joined the Social Security Administration this week as a special government employee,” Stephen McGraw, an SSA spokesperson, told the outlet. “His work will be focused on improving the functionality of the Social Security website and advancing our mission of delivering more efficient service to the American people.”
Special government employees are limited to working 130 days for the federal government. Musk was the most recognizable special government employee during Trump's administration.
Coristine was one of the first and youngest employees at DOGE. He worked across a range of government agencies such as the Office of Management and Personnel, Health and Human Services, and the US Agency for International Development, although details about the nature of his work are murky.
Coristine also worked for Musk at Neuralink as an intern before joining the federal government. Another DOGE staffer told Wired that at times it felt like Coristine's only tie to the administration was Musk.
A law professor also told Wired that it is unusual for special government employees to be rehired by the government so soon after their initial departure.