Just days after leaving his role in the federal government, 19-year-old Edward Coristine is back—this time at the Social Security Administration (SSA). His return comes as a surprise, considering reports earlier in the week that he had resigned. Now, he’s rejoined federal service as a special government employee, tasked with improving the SSA’s website and public service tools.
According to the SSA, Coristine officially joined the agency this week. Internal sources told WIRED that he has already been seen working onsite at SSA’s headquarters in Woodlawn, Maryland. He was reportedly spotted with Aram Moghaddassi, a fellow engineer tied to Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), which has been deploying tech workers across multiple federal agencies.
The precise date of Coristine’s new appointment hasn’t been made public, but it appears his return happened within days of his initial resignation.
Previously Resigned, Then Rehired
Coristine’s short-lived departure followed a series of developments earlier this month. He had only recently become a full-time government employee at the General Services Administration (GSA) on May 30. Before that, he served under a limited-time special government employee status, capped at 130 days.
By early this week, Coristine’s government email account through the GSA had been disabled, and his name was removed from an internal DOGE roster, according to WIRED. A White House official had confirmed his resignation, as did a Trump administration contact who said he stepped down on a Monday and was then brought back later in the week—this time through the SSA.
The GSA did not respond to media inquiries regarding the status change.
Rapid Rise Without a Conventional Resume
Coristine’s unconventional path into government service has drawn attention due to his youth and lack of formal experience. A high school graduate, Coristine worked for a short period at Musk’s brain-computer interface company Neuralink before being recruited into DOGE, an initiative designed to modernize federal systems through the placement of Musk-affiliated tech workers.
Online, Coristine is known by the handle “Big Balls” and has a history of entrepreneurial and controversial tech ventures. He founded a company called Tesla.Sexy LLC in 2021 and previously worked at a startup known for hiring individuals with blackhat hacker backgrounds. He was reportedly dismissed from that startup after being suspected of leaking internal data.
Though he has worked with a variety of government departments—including the Department of Homeland Security, the State Department, and the U.S. Agency for International Development—his appearance at SSA marks his first known assignment with the agency.
DOGE’s Quiet Expansion Inside Government
The Department of Government Efficiency has operated as an informal but far-reaching tech initiative embedded across numerous federal agencies. While the program aims to inject private-sector speed and innovation into public service, critics argue that DOGE lacks transparency, oversight, and clear hiring protocols.
DOGE’s structure—loosely associated with the Trump administration and largely influenced by Elon Musk—has allowed it to place young technologists, many with minimal experience, into critical government roles. Some have been recruited directly from Musk’s companies like Neuralink and X (formerly Twitter).
Reports have highlighted that DOGE often operates with minimal interaction with traditional government oversight bodies, and little is known about how its participants are selected or assigned.
Unusual Staffing Practices Prompt Concern
The reappointment of Coristine after a reported resignation has raised concerns among observers of federal hiring practices. Experts in public administration note that such rapid personnel changes, especially without clear inter-agency coordination, are uncommon and raise questions about procedural integrity.
The circumstances suggest gaps in communication between the White House, federal agencies, and the DOGE program. While political administrations often bring in outside talent for innovation, the speed and opacity of DOGE’s staffing practices are unusual even by those standards.
