As President Donald Trump marks its first 100 days in office, one of his most visible initiatives to reform the federal government — and “Drain the Swamp” — has been the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), led by billionaire Elon Musk.
The agency claims to have already cut at least $160 billion in wasteful government spending, and is looking to slash $1 trillion.
In a Fox News interview with Jesse Watters Thursday night, Musk introduced the DOGE team to the public, including the previously anonymous 19-year-old Edward Coristine, known online online as “Big Balls” — a nickname he gained after setting it as his LinkedIn username to stand out from others who “take themselves super seriously.”
“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,” Coristine explained during the interview. “Honestly I didn’t think anyone would notice.”
Coristine, who works in the State Department’s Bureau of Diplomatic Technology, represents the youth movement at the head of DOGE. He described his role as “working on computer stuff” to help root out alleged waste and fraud, particularly by examining payment systems.
“You look at a specific line item, $20 million. OK, what is it going to? For the majority of payment systems … we don’t really know,” Coristine claimed during the interview.
🚨 LMAO! Elon Musk just unveiled the identity of Big Balls
"That should be obvious" 🤣
Big Balls is working on payment systems, and he says the most common response to what payments are from agency officials is "I dunno."
Infuriating. pic.twitter.com/A2i3GAlNcs
— Nick Sortor (@nicksortor) May 2, 2025
DOGE has targeted numerous agencies, with its most significant cuts aimed at the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). According to internal documents previously reported by Fox News, DOGE plans to eliminate nearly 15,000 grants worth approximately $60 billion — about 90% of foreign aid contracts.
During the Fox News interview, Musk and his team highlighted what they described as egregious examples of government waste. They singled out the United States Institute of Peace, claiming they discovered loaded guns at the agency’s headquarters and evidence of financial records being deleted. The team found evidence of congressionally approved funds spent on private jets and a $130,000 contract with a former Taliban member.
DOGE also claimed the Inter-American Foundation spent only 58% of its $50 million annual budget on actual grants for bloated projects like “improving the marketability of peas in Guatemala” and “alpaca farmers in Peru,” with the rest going to management expenses and travel.
But it represents just a small portion of the needed cuts to get the federal deficit under control. With Musk poised to leave to head back to the private sector, critics are left wondering who will take the reigns.
As Musk prepares to transition away from his day-to-day role with DOGE when his special government employee status ends May 30, he insists his department’s work will continue.
“It’s a long-term enterprise because if we take our eye off the ball, the waste and fraud will come roaring back,” Musk said.
Musk has emphasized that almost all federal employees have been cooperative with DOGE’s mission.
“We’d like to just give a big thank you to all the government employees who are helping reduce the waste and fraud, because we really couldn’t do it without you,” Musk said. “I’m not trying to sort of say all government employees are bad. That’s absolutely not the case.”
Indeed, DOGE members portrayed their work as a patriotic sacrifice. One team member revealed he had dropped out of Harvard University to join the effort, saying, “It’s been unfortunate to see lost friendships. Most of campus hates me now, but I think fundamentally, I hope people realize through conversations like this that reform is genuinely needed.”
Trump recently acknowledged Musk’s contributions at a Cabinet meeting Wednesday, telling him: “We all want to thank you for your help. You really have sacrificed a lot.”
For Musk, who told Tesla investors last week that “starting next month, May, my time allocation to DOGE will drop significantly,” the Fox News interview appears to serve as a capstone to his official tenure leading the department.
While he plans to continue as an informal adviser, his focus will return to his private enterprises, including Tesla, which has reportedly seen a challenging first quarter amid the controversies surrounding his government role.
But he assured the public that the DOGE team will continue the fight without his direct lead.