On March 4, 2025, Wired published an article titled "Some DOGE staffers are drawing in six figure salaries," alleging that several workers for the Department of Government Efficiency initiative were making more than $100,000, despite a claim of no salaries for the workers whose goal is to cut government spending by dramatically reducing the government workforce.
A social media post sharing the claim went viral on X, and Snopes readers searched our website to see whether the claim was true.
We could not confirm or disprove any of the information reported by Wired, which was the origin of the claim. The article gave three examples of DOGE staffers with high pay rates, but did not specify how the publication obtained or verified the information — though it said it had confirmed at least one of the salaries. Snopes reached out to the story's author to learn more and will update this story if we hear back.
According to the Wired article, Jeremy Lewin, who played a role in the defunding of USAID and has been involved in interactions with the National Institutes of Health and Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, earns just over $167,000 per year. Nate Cavanaugh, a tech entrepreneur who has been interviewing workers at the General Services Administration for DOGE, earns just over $120,000 per year. Finally, Kyle Schutt, a software engineer, earns $195,200, the maximum annual salary for "general schedule" federal employees. According to Wired and The New York Times, all three jobs fall under the General Services Administration.
Each year, the Office of Personnel Management provides a list of pay tables for all general schedule federal employees based on the job's location. A table consists of 15 pay grades, each of which has 10 steps. An agency decides what pay grade the job requires, and a newly hired employee traditionally starts at step one of a given grade. Employees can move up a step within their pay grade based on good performance and longevity, according to OPM.
Looking at the pay table for the Washington, D.C., area revealed that if Wired's salaries are accurate, Cavanaugh is likely paid at step one of grade 13, Lewin is likely paid at step one of grade 15 and Schutt is paid at least step six of grade 15 (because federal law caps the highest salary, steps six through 10 of grade 15 all pay the same amount).
Elon Musk, who is the public face of DOGE but does not officially lead the agency, announced the initiative in November 2024. In a post on his social media site X, he said the work would be "tedious" and the compensation would be "zero." Wired reported that some DOGE staff (including Musk, the richest man in the world) operate as "special government employees," positions that can be either paid or unpaid, and that some did not appear to take a salary.