21 technologists quit USDS, saying DOGE demands ‘are not compatible with the mission’
A group of 21 engineers, data scientists, designers, project managers and other tech experts resigned from their positions at the U.S. Digital Service on Tuesday, writing in a letter to the White House that they would not “carry out or legitimize” the actions of Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency.
The technologists said in their letter that they all left senior tech positions in the private sector to “pursue nonpartisan public service” and “stood ready to partner with incoming officials” as the Trump transition unfolded.
But over the course of the past month, the staffers said it became clear that they could “no longer honor those commitments” at USDS, rebranded in January as the United States DOGE Service.
A day after President Donald Trump’s inauguration, the USDS technologists said they were subjected to 15-minute interviews by individuals sporting White House visitor badges who refused to identify themselves. The USDS team members said they were asked questions about political affiliations and loyalty while those asking the questions demonstrated “limited technical ability” and attempted to “pit colleagues against each other.”
On Feb. 14, a third of USDS staffers were fired via an anonymous email. Those staffers, according to the letter writers, included civil servants working to modernize Social Security and on projects related to tax filing, health care, student aid, disaster relief and veterans services.
Two days later, according to the letter, DOGE representatives pulled the remaining USDS employees “into their efforts.”
“DOGE’s actions — firing technical experts, mishandling sensitive data, and breaking critical systems — contradict their stated mission of “modernizing Federal technology and software to maximize governmental efficiency and productivity,” the letter states. “These actions are not compatible with the mission we joined the United States Digital Service to carry out: to deliver better services to the American people through technology and design.”
The writers of the letter, which was first reported by the Associated Press, noted that they did not accept the Office of Personnel Management’s deferred resignation offer and are giving their “full support” to their USDS colleagues who have chosen to stay on.
“We will not use our skills as technologists to compromise core government systems, jeopardize Americans’ sensitive data, or dismantle critical public services,” the letter stated. “We will not lend our expertise to carry out or legitimize DOGE’s actions.”
The Trump administration and select DOGE representatives have been on the receiving end of several lawsuits tied to the handling of Americans’ personal and financial information and general data privacy concerns. Cybersecurity experts, meanwhile, have sounded alarms over the accessing of federal IT systems by DOGE surrogates, likening their activities to an ongoing data breach.
USDS was founded during the Obama administration after the troubled rollout of HealthCare.gov, with the goal of harnessing the top engineering and design talent to transform the government’s approach to technology. USDS has completed myriad projects over the past decade to improve government services, ranging from critical updates to Social Security Administration websites to creating COVID-19 vaccine finder tools.
