Elon Musk’s DOGE staffers don’t have access to U.S. nuclear secrets, Energy secretary says
DOGE staffers who are working at the Department of Energy do not have access to U.S. nuclear secrets, Secretary Chris Wright told CNBC in an interview Friday.
“I’ve heard these rumors. They’re like seeing our nuclear secrets. None of that is true at all,” Wright told CNBC’s Brian Sullivan in an exclusive interview. One of the core responsibilities of the department is maintaining and modernizing the U.S. nuclear stockpile.
The secretary said three staffers from the Elon Musk-led advisory team that the Trump administration calls the Department of Government Efficiency are working in the Energy Department’s offices.
“I know exactly who they are,” the secretary said. “They run through, checked by our security, and they have access to look around, talk to people and give us some good feedback on how things are going.”
Wright’s comments come after people familiar with the matter told CNN that a 23-year-old representative from DOGE was given access to the Energy Department’s IT system over objections from members of the general counsel and chief information offices.
The people identified the staffer to CNN as a former SpaceX intern named Luke Farritor. He was granted access to basic IT systems such as email and Microsoft 365, one of the people told CNN.
CNBC has reached out to the Department of Energy for comment on the details of CNN’s report.
DOGE staffers’ access to government systems has raised privacy concerns. Wright told CNBC that the staffers “don’t have anybody’s proprietary information.” The secretary compared the staffers to “young gun management consultants coming in to take a critical look at how things are run.”
A DOGE staff member, Marko Elez, resigned Thursday after The Wall Street Journal connected the 25-year-old to a social media account that made racist posts. Elez had received approval from a federal judge earlier in the day to access the Treasury Department’s payment system, but the judge restricted his ability to share data from that system.
Environment
Podcast: Tesla sales are dropping, tariff situation, Nissan/Honda deal falls through, more
In the Electrek Podcast, we discuss the most popular news in the world of sustainable transport and energy. In this week’s episode, we discuss Tesla sale dropping, the tariff situation, the Nissan/Honda deal falling through, and more.
The show is live every Friday at 4 p.m. ET on Electrek’s YouTube channel.
As a reminder, we’ll have an accompanying post, like this one, on the site with an embedded link to the live stream. Head to the YouTube channel to get your questions and comments in.
After the show ends at around 5 p.m. ET, the video will be archived on YouTube and the audio on all your favorite podcast apps:
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Here are a few of the articles that we will discuss during the podcast:
Here’s the live stream for today’s episode starting at 4:00 p.m. ET (or the video after 5 p.m. ET):
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The 2025 Chevy Blazer will be the last gas version sold in the US. GM is retiring the combustion engine Blazer, leaving the SUV exclusively as an EV model.
GM will retire the gas Chevy Blazer after the 2025 model
GM is killing off another gas-powered model as part of a broader shakeup to its crossover SUV lineup. After the company announced it was ending Cadillac XT4 production in January, GM Authority reported it wasn’t the only Caddie being discontinued.
The report claimed that the Cadillac XT5 and XT6 were also headed for retirement. Now, we are learning that another SUV will be included.
A new report from GM Authority claims “sources close to the matter” told them that GM will end production of the gas Chevy Blazer for the US market after the 2025 model year.
The move comes as GM shifts its manufacturing plant in Ramos Arizpe, Mexico, to produce exclusively electric cars. GM’s Mexico plant currently manufactures the new Chevy Blazer and Equinox EVs, Cadillac Optiq, and Honda Prologue.
The gas Chevy Blazer is the last combustion engine model built at the facility. The move makes sense, given Trump imposed an additional 25% tariff on imports from Mexico (although it is now on pause).
After peaking at nearly 95,000 in 2020, sales of the current gas-powered Blazer have fallen off a cliff. Last year, GM sold just over 52,500 gas Blazers, down from about 62,000 in 2023.
Meanwhile, GM sold more than 23,100 Blazer EV models in 2024, nearly 8,000 of which were sold in the final three months of the year.
GM launched the 2025 Chevy Blazer EV last year with more range (up to 334 miles) and a lower starting price of just $45,995.
| 2025 Chevy Blazer EV trim | Starting MSRP (includes DFC) | Range (EPA-estimated) |
Horsepower | Torque |
| FWD | $45,995 | 312 miles | 220 | 243 lb-ft |
| AWD | $48,995 | 283 miles (previously 279 mi) | 300 (previously 288) | 355 lb-ft (previously 333 lb-ft) |
| RWD | $56,990 | 334 miles (previously 324 mi) | 365 (previously 340) | 325 lb-ft |
| SS | $61,995 | 283 miles | 595 with Wide Open Watts (previously announced 557) Wide Open Watts mode can accelerate from 0 – 60 in 3.4 seconds | 645 lb-ft with Wide Open Watts |
After selling over 114,400 electric vehicles last year, GM surpassed Ford to become the number two EV seller in the US behind Tesla. Ford sold just under 97,800 EV models in 2024.
With new Chevy, Cadillac, and GMC electric models rolling out, GM secured 12.5% of the US EV market in the final three months of 2024, up from 6.5% a year ago.
Earlier this week, Electrek reported that GM was cutting a shift at its Mexico plant after Honda said it wanted to slow Prologue output.
If you’re ready to test drive Chevy’s electric SUVs for yourself, we can help you get started. You can use our links below to view offers on the Chevy Blazer and Equinox EV models at a dealer near you.
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