A total of 21 civil servants have resigned from the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) managed by Elon Musk on February 25, 2025. They stepped down claiming an unwillingness to be part of what they believe are measures to dismantle vital government services.
This mass exodus comprised engineers, data scientists, and product managers who had previously been employed by the United States Digital Service (USDS). The USDS was established during the Obama administration following technical issues encountered during the launch of the Healthcare.gov website.
The staffers, in a collective resignation letter obtained by The Associated Press, stated, “We swore to serve the American people and uphold our oath to the Constitution across presidential administrations. However, it has become clear that we can no longer honor those commitments.”
They cautioned that many individuals working with Musk in a bid to streamline the federal government under Trump’s administration lack the necessary technical competence for the daunting task ahead.
Before joining the public service, all the resigning staffers held senior roles at major tech firms such as Google and Amazon. In their resignation letter, they expressed concerns about the atmosphere developing under Musk’s DOGE leadership.
As per their statements, shortly after Trump’s inauguration, nonpartisan staff underwent unusual interview sessions with unidentified individuals sporting White House visitor badges. These interviewers questioned the staff’s technical qualifications and political allegiances, with some displaying a limited understanding of technology.
According to the staffers, several interviewers refused to reveal their identities, asked questions to assess political loyalty, attempted to create division among colleagues, and showed little technical knowledge. This approach led to significant security vulnerabilities.
Earlier in the month, about 40 USDS office staff were laid off, an action that the resigning employees say seriously undermined the government’s technological competence. The layoffs affected designers, product managers, HR, and contracting staff more than engineers.
In their letter, the resigning workers mentioned that the dismissed employees “were working to modernize Social Security, veterans’ services, tax filing, health care, disaster relief, student aid, and other critical services. Their removal endangers millions of Americans who rely on these services every day. The sudden loss of their technology expertise makes critical systems and Americans’ data less safe.”
About a third of the remaining 65 staffers at USDS resigned, refusing to assume new roles under DOGE.
In their resignation, they pledged not to use their technological skills to damage central government systems, endanger Americans’ sensitive data, or disrupt crucial public services.
The Digital Service was initially created to enhance technology services for veterans and develop systems to improve government technology procurement. It also played a role in establishing a free government tax filing portal.
The DOGE under Musk signifies a significant departure from what Trump initially promised during his presidential campaign. DOGE, initially presented as an external blue-ribbon commission, has transformed into a more assertive internal effort to reduce the size of the government.
Musk publicly embraced this role. Last week at the Conservative Political Action Conference near Washington, he brandished a decorative chainsaw gifted by Argentine President Javier Milei, proclaiming, “This is the chainsaw for bureaucracy.”
Former USDS members, requesting anonymity due to fear of retaliation, observed that individuals transitioning from the private sector to government often encounter bureaucratic challenges but typically grow to appreciate the necessity of certain safeguards.
Cordell Schachter, the former U.S. Department of Transportation’s chief information officer, said the philosophy of “move fast and break things” might be appropriate for business owners who are willing to take on risks and manage any resulting damage. However, he warned that in government, breaking things means disrupting public systems—systems that belong to individuals who never agreed to take such risks.
One of the few engineers dismissed in the earlier round of layoffs, Jonathan Kamens, thinks his termination was due to his public support for Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris and criticism of Musk in workplace communications.
Kamens voiced his belief that Musk is involved in questionable activities and suggested that any data Musk acquires will likely be misused in ways that are inappropriate and potentially detrimental to Americans, as told to the Associated Press.
The resignations pose a temporary hindrance to Musk and Trump’s technology-based endeavor to downsize the federal workforce, an effort already facing numerous legal challenges seeking to halt or reverse their initiatives.
