Who is Nikhil Rajpal, the Indian-origin engineer who is part of Elon Musk’s controversial Doge?

Nikhil Rajpal, a 30-year-old engineer with a background in computer science and history from UC Berkeley, has emerged as a significant figure within Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).

Representing the DOGE task force at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Rajpal has gained notable access to government systems, raising concerns among officials and observers alike.

According to government records reviewed by WIRED, Rajpal holds official email addresses with both DOGE and NOAA, with his DOGE email linked to the Executive Office of the President.

His name also appears in NOAA’s public-facing employee directory. Reports indicate that NOAA employees were ordered to grant Rajpal editor access to all NOAA Google sites under the directive of Acting Commerce Secretary Jeremy Pelter. This order was issued despite Rajpal having no prior experience in scientific fields relevant to NOAA’s mission.

Additionally, around the same time, a longtime NOAA employee responsible for diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility initiatives was placed on administrative leave just weeks before their scheduled retirement.

The decision to grant Rajpal access, coupled with the abrupt personnel change, has sparked concerns within the agency.

What we know about Rajpal

Before joining DOGE, Rajpal worked at Twitter prior to Musk’s acquisition and had previously contributed to redesigning a Tesla console.

During his college years, he led a libertarian-leaning student group advocating for “minimal government, free markets, sound money, non-intervention, and maximum individual liberty.”

Rajpal’s online presence appears to have been largely erased in recent months. However, records show that he maintained an Instapaper account listing articles from sources such as Richard Hanania, Quillette, Zero Hedge, the Financial Times, and Bloomberg, reported WIRED. He also gave a presentation on Bitcoin during an internship at Viget in 2014.

Controversy surrounding his appointment at NOAA

Rajpal’s placement at NOAA has raised serious questions due to his lack of expertise in climate science, meteorology, or related disciplines.

The NOAA is a nonpartisan scientific agency tasked with monitoring and modelling the Earth’s oceans and atmosphere. It provides critical data for weather forecasting, hurricane tracking, and climate change research.

Despite this, sources confirm that DOGE representatives entered NOAA facilities in Maryland and sought access to IT systems.

This follows similar patterns of DOGE’s influence spreading across key government agencies, including the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) and the General Services Administration (GSA).

DOGE’s expanding influence

Elon Musk has reportedly hired a team of six young engineers—some as young as 19—to work within DOGE. This team includes Edward Coristine, Luke Farritor, Gautier Cole Killian, Gavin Kliger, and Ethan Shaotran. Among them, another Indian-origin tech expert, Akash Bobba, has also been listed as an “expert” at the OPM.

Bobba, like Rajpal, reportedly has significant access to government systems, including a General Services Administration (GSA) email and A-suite clearance that grants access to all physical spaces and IT systems at the agency.

Under an executive order signed by US President Donald Trump, DOGE has extraordinary access to unclassified federal government systems.

Reports suggest that one DOGE worker has full access to a Treasury Department system that controls the majority of the federal government’s trillions of dollars in annual payments. Additionally, DOGE’s influence extends to foreign aid policies, with reports linking the agency to the blockage of HIV and AIDS relief funds.

Also Read | Who is Akash Bobba and the other members of Elon Musk’s secret Doge team?

The growing influence of DOGE and the appointment of individuals like Rajpal in key government positions continue to raise questions about transparency and qualifications.

Critics argue that the placement of engineers with no apparent experience in relevant fields within critical government agencies may have long-term consequences for federal operations.

With inputs from agencies