Nearly two dozen public servants assigned to Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) resigned today, stating in a joint letter to superiors that they could not “uphold our oath to the Constitution” while working for the unofficial agency contracted by the Trump White House.
“We will not use our skills as technologists to compromise core government systems, jeopardize Americans’ sensitive data, or dismantle critical public services,” they wrote. “We will not lend our expertise to carry out or legitimize DOGE’s actions.”
The now-former employees are all highly-experienced engineers, data scientists, and product managers who were working in the U.S. Digital Service (USDS), an agency established under Obama’s presidency to deliver and protect federal agency systems like Healthcare.gov, student aid, veterans’ programs, and more. The agency also helped develop the free tax-filing system introduced under the Biden administration.
According to the Associated Press, “all had previously held senior roles at such tech companies as Google and Amazon and wrote in their resignation letter that they joined the government out of a sense of duty to public service.”
Earlier this month, just under half of the Digital Service team were laid off. The rest, 65-or-so public servants, were reassigned to DOGE.
In the letter, the group of 21 staffers said that the firing of their coworkers and the destruction of the Digital Service has put Americans in danger, even without the added dangers of the work at DOGE.
These highly skilled civil servants 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.
From the resignation later, verified by the Associated Press
The letter also confirms what many Americans already know: DOGE is packed with political extremists and people who appear to be Elon Musk super fans, most of them lacking the skills or experience to slash the size of the federal government without destruction.
Sources
IMAGE: SEAN O’KANE / TECHCRUNCH
