Energy CIO replaced with SpaceX engineer as DOGE probes department’s systems
The Department of Energy on Friday replaced its chief information officer with a network engineer from Elon Musk’s SpaceX, FedScoop has learned.
Dawn Zimmer — who’d been serving as Energy CIO since Ann Dunkin resigned from the role as the Biden administration left office — has been removed from her role by the department’s leadership, a source with direct knowledge of the move told FedScoop. Zimmer was hired as Energy’s principal deputy CIO in November.
With Zimmer out, Energy leadership has appointed Ryan Riedel to the CIO role, according to the source, who also shared a screenshot of Riedel listed as CIO in the department’s email directory.
Riedel lists his current employment as a lead network security engineer at SpaceX on his LinkedIn. He joined the company in 2020 after previously serving at U.S. Army Cyber Command and in the U.S. Navy as an IT specialist, his profile shows.
The change comes amid reports that members of the Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency have entered the Department of Energy and at least one is accessing its IT systems. CNN reported Friday that Secretary Chris Wright granted that DOGE member system access, despite objections from the department’s IT and legal teams, who said the Musk associate didn’t have the proper background check to do so.
In the first weeks of President Donald Trump’s second term, Musk’s DOGE team has been entering agencies across the government — including the Office of Personnel Management, USAID, the Treasury and Education departments, and several others — and going toe-to-toe with IT officials as it looks to gain access to sensitive systems and data.
Zimmer isn’t the first CIO to have been removed amid a DOGE takeover. Melvin Brown II, who similarly stepped into the CIO role at OPM as his predecessor stepped down at the change of administration, was removed from his position and replaced.
The Department of Energy did not return FedScoop’s request for comment prior to publication.
