Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency has landed at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission one day after President Donald Trump’s choice to lead the agency, Paul Atkins, appeared before the Senate Banking Committee for his nomination hearing.
A group of Musk advisers arrived March 28 at the agency, according to communications from the agency sent to staff and reviewed by Bloomberg News. The message didn’t identify the DOGE emissaries by name, and SEC staff were instructed to treat them as internal employees, according to the message.
“In compliance with the president’s Executive Order establishing DOGE, the SEC is beginning to onboard members of the team,” an agency spokesperson said.
The SEC has designated an internal team to work with DOGE. The group includes the offices of the chief operating officer, the general counsel, human resources and enforcement, according to the message.
Musk has been spearheading an effort to slash the size of the federal government, with DOGE taking credit for halting programs, freezing spending and cutting the workforce through buyouts and terminations. Many of its moves have been challenged in court, with several judges ordering the government to pause, limit or reverse its actions.
The SEC is already anticipating a smaller footprint. Roughly 500 staffers, or 10% of its workforce, have accepted the government-wide buyout and deferred-resignation offers.
The agency also intends to eliminate the leases for its offices in Los Angeles and Philadelphia offices, and the General Services Administration has also explored ending the Chicago office’s lease. The most-senior positions at regional offices have also been cut, though the individuals in those roles aren’t being forced out.
The agency has historically cost the government less in operating expenses than it produces in revenue from fees and enforcement actions. “In effect, the SEC pays for itself and costs taxpayers nothing,” a group of Columbia Law School professors wrote in a blog post this month. “Cutting its staff and budget is thus counterproductive and inflationary.”
In February, as Musk’s team spread out across federal agencies, U.S. Representatives Maxine Waters and Brad Sherman, both Democrats, raised an early warning about what DOGE might do at the SEC. “Given Mr. Musk’s history with the SEC, it is troubling that he may now be given influence over the agency’s operations,” they wrote to acting Chair Mark Uyeda.
Musk has often been at odds with the SEC. During President Donald Trump’s first term, the agency sued him after he tweeted that he had “funding secured” to take electric carmaker Tesla private. Musk and Tesla settled the case by paying $20 million apiece to the SEC and Musk also had to step down as the company’s chairman.
Days before Trump’s second inauguration, the SEC sued Musk again. This time, the regulator accused the billionaire of blowing the deadline to disclose his growing stake in Twitter before he tried to take over the social media platform in 2022.
