On Tuesday, February 25, 2025, a total of 21 civil service employees resigned from their roles in Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), protesting what they perceive as attempts to dismantle vital government services.
These mass resignations involved engineers, data scientists, and product managers previously associated with the United States Digital Service (USDS). The USDS was born out of the Obama administration following the significant technical issues experienced during the launch of the Healthcare.gov website.
In a collective resignation letter obtained by The Associated Press, the employees 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.”
The letter warned of a lack of necessary technical expertise among many of those collaborating with Musk in President Trump’s initiative to streamline the federal government.
Prior to their government service, all resigning staffers held senior roles at major tech companies, including Google and Amazon. They detailed an unsettling environment brewing under Musk’s DOGE leadership in their resignation letter.
They reported that, following Trump’s inauguration, nonpartisan employees faced unusual interview sessions with unidentified individuals wearing White House visitor badges. These interviews saw staff probed about their technical qualifications and political allegiances, while some interviewers appeared to lack technical knowledge.
According to the staffers, a number of these interviewers refused to reveal their identities, asked questions aimed at assessing political loyalty, attempted to create division among colleagues, and displayed minimal technical expertise. This approach led to significant security vulnerabilities.
Earlier this month, about 40 USDS office staff were laid off, a move that the resigning employees believe severely compromised the government’s technological capabilities. These layoffs predominantly affected designers, product managers, human resources, and contracting staff, while largely sparing engineering roles.
In their letter, the resigning workers stated 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 American’s data less safe.”
Approximately one-third of the remaining 65 USDS staffers chose to resign on Tuesday rather than assume new responsibilities under DOGE.
They asserted in their resignation letter that they would not employ their technology skills to undermine core government systems, endanger sensitive American data, or interrupt essential public services.
The Digital Service was initially established to enhance technology services for veterans and create systems to make government technology procurement more efficient. It also assisted in establishing a free government tax filing portal.
Musk’s DOGE represents a significant departure from Trump’s initial campaign promise. Originally envisioned as an external blue-ribbon commission, DOGE has transformed into a more assertive internal effort to downsize government.
At the Conservative Political Action Conference near Washington, Musk famously brandished a decorative chainsaw given by Argentine President Javier Milei, declaring, “This is the chainsaw for bureaucracy.”
Former USDS members, speaking on the condition of anonymity, observed that those transitioning from the private sector to government often initially grapple with bureaucratic processes but typically grow to understand the necessity of certain safeguards.
Cordell Schachter, former chief information officer at the U.S. Department of Transportation, expressed that the “move fast and break things” philosophy might be suitable for business owners who willingly assume risks and can manage the fallout. However, he warned that in government, breaking things endangers public systems and affects individuals who never agreed to such risks.
Jonathan Kamens, one of the few engineers let go in the earlier layoffs, suspects that his public support for Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris and criticism of Musk led to his dismissal.
Kamens suggested to the Associated Press that Elon Musk is involved in dubious activities and speculated that any data Musk obtains will likely be used in ways that are inappropriate and potentially harmful to Americans.
The resignations pose a temporary hindrance to Musk and Trump’s tech-focused mission to reduce the federal workforce, which is already confronting several legal challenges aiming to halt or reverse their initiatives.