WASHINGTON ― Elon Musk’s teenage protégé has found a new home in the federal government weeks after Musk’s departure.
Edward Coristine, the 19-year-old known as “Big Balls,” has landed at the Social Security Administration following his stint in the General Services Administration as a minion of Musk’s “Department of Government Efficiency.”
A spokesperson for Social Security said Coristine joined the agency this week as a special government employee, meaning his term is limited to 130 days.
“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,” Social Security spokesperson Stephen McGraw said in an email.
The Social Security Administration was the site of some of Musk’s most controversial work while he led the DOGE initiative in the early months of President Donald Trump’s second term.
Musk falsely said, based on a misunderstanding of a Social Security database, that the agency sent out fraudulent benefits in the names of people who were more than 120 years old. Trump repeated the bogus story in a speech before Congress.
Musk also claimed the agency was bombarded by fraudulent phone calls from criminals trying to steal people’s benefits by switching their bank accounts. As a result, the agency announced it would disallow claimants from verifying their identities over the phone, instead requiring them to visit field offices. The agency backed off the phone service change in April amid an outcry from lawmakers.
In February, according to The New York Timesmembers of the DOGE team also directed Social Security’s acting director to cancel vital records contracts with Maine as retaliation for Gov. Janet Mills’ refusal to follow Trump’s orders on transgender athletes in girls’ sports.
Coristine, a former employee of Musk’s Neuralink company, was a trusted DOGE insider during Musk’s time as a White House adviser. Musk and Trump had a huge fight after the billionaire left; Coristine’s continued presence in the government shows the falling-out hasn’t totally hampered the DOGE project.
