'Normalise Indian hate': Musk's DOGE employee Marko Elez resigns after old ‘racist’ posts resurface online

A staff member of Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency resigned on Thursday after his old, now deleted 'racist' posts towards Indians resurfaced.

According to a report by the National Public Radio, 25-year-old software engineer Marko Elez was part of Musk's DOGE and was given access to Treasury Department system to cut costs and root out fraud.

Elez had previously worked with Musk at X and SpaceX and was one of two temporary DOGE appointees at the US Treasury who were given access to a highly sensitive Treasury system that processes trillions of dollars in payments annually.

Wall Street Journal had reported that Elez had posted several racist posts on X in 2024.

In July 2024, Elez wrote, "Just for the record, I was racist before it was cool."

One post from September 2024 read, "You could not pay me to marry outside of my ethnicity."

Subsequently, another post that month read "Normalize Indian hate."

In December, pushing to repeal the Civil Rights Act, he wrote, "I just want a eugenic immigration policy, is that too much to ask."

All these posts have now been deleted, NPR reported.

This saga came amidst concerns among US lawmakers of Elon's growing power and the staffers he has employed to trim down, and in some cases dismantle entire government organisation in order to cut down costs.

Democrats on the US House oversight committee on Thursday called for an investigation of potential national security threats posed by Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency.

In a letter on Thursday, the lawmakers urged deputy inspectors general at several federal agencies to investigate potential national security breaches involving Musk's team.

Those agencies include the US Treasury, the Office of Personnel Management, the Department of Education, the US Agency for International Development, the General Services Administration and the Small Business Administration.

"We are deeply concerned that unauthorized system access could be occurring across the federal government and could pose a major threat to the personal privacy of all Americans and to the national security of our nation," the lawmakers wrote.

They added: "Although Elon Musk appears to have been granted the status of 'Special Government Employee', there is no evidence that he, or any of his associates working under the 'DOGE team' moniker are entitled to access our government systems, nor is there any evidence that they have undergone the proper vetting to ensure the security of taxpayer and government data."

(With Reuters Inputs)