Photos: Here Are the Piles of Used Bedding and Children’s Play Sets Left Near DOGE’s Old Offices

Elon Musk’s associates at the so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) have begun vacating their headquarters at the General Services Administration (GSA) in Washington, DC. An apocalyptic scene of toddler play sets, mattresses, and pillows remains.

Near rooms where DOGE once operated, a seemingly abandoned children’s wooden kitchen set sits next to a rainbow climbing arch and an easel covered in crumpled paper, according to photos obtained by WIRED. Other children’s toys are within reach, with colorful books and other playthings neatly organized in white plastic bins. A few related items are strewn about the floor. Nearby, trash bags full of pillows and five mattresses, some with sheets and mattress toppers still on them, are stuffed in a corner.

It looks like a scene out of a zombie movie, where villagers had to flee in the middle of the night to avoid a raid. But it’s not a movie; it’s the aftermath of DOGE’s wholesale assault on the GSA and the federal government writ large. DOGE isn’t gone, but as it morphs into its new phase, post-Musk’s chain-saw-style leadership, the children’s toys have been left behind.

GSA did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

In January, after President Donald Trump’s inauguration, Musk’s DOGE took over a few key government agencies that provided the keys to dozens of others, including the Office of Personnel Management, which functions as the federal HR system, and the GSA, the government’s operations and IT department.

Steve Davis and Nicole Hollander, two longtime Musk lieutenants who played a crucial role in Musk’s acquisition of X, were listed as high-level GSA employees, according to directory screenshots obtained by WIRED. (Davis and Hollander are partners and have a child together. During Musk’s acquisition of X, they moved into the company’s office building in San Francisco with their newborn baby.) Thomas Shedd, a former Tesla engineer, became the director of the GSA’s Technology Transformation Services division. A number of young, inexperienced technologists, as WIRED first reported, were also brought to the GSA: Edward Coristine, a former Neuralink intern, and Ethan Shaotran, a student at Harvard, joined the agency as well. Davis, Hollander, Coristine, and Shaotran all had A-suite access, linking them to the highest levels of the GSA org chart.

At the GSA, DOGE set up shop on the sixth floor of the office building. The area where they worked, which had previously been open, was redesigned to accommodate a locked door, a key card reader for access, and a security guard. Longtime GSA employees reported seeing groups of young men walking around the office dressed in T-shirts and shorts, and, in some cases, wearing sunglasses. In March, GSA acting administrator Stephen Ehikian hosted an all-hands meeting with GSA staff. During a Q&A, he was asked about the DOGE team at GSA. He responded that no such team existed. Many employees were in disbelief. “Like we didn’t notice a bunch of young kids working behind a secure area on the sixth floor,” a GSA employee told WIRED.

That sixth floor of the GSA office is now open to other employees, following Musk, Davis, and Hollander’s apparent step back from DOGE in May. On Monday, Trump announced that Michael Rigas, deputy secretary of state for management and resources, is the new acting administrator of the GSA, according to an internal memo viewed by WIRED. The move effectively sidelines Ehikian, who enthusiastically carried out the DOGE agenda during his tenure as the acting administrator. Ehikian’s wife previously worked as a designer at Musk’s social networking company X.

But DOGE is not entirely gone from GSA—DOGE associates Nate Cavanaugh and Justin Fox have been seen in the office in recent weeks, multiple sources confirm to WIRED. And while DOGE has lost its flashy leadership, WIRED has reported that the so-called agency has continued embedding itself throughout the government, leading projects and cutting contracts.