Twenty one federal employees who had been working with Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency resigned, writing in a letter that they wouldn’t offer their expertise to overhaul the government if it meant undermining essential services.
WASHINGTON—Twenty one federal employees who had been working with Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency resigned, writing in a letter that they wouldn’t offer their expertise to overhaul the government if it meant undermining essential services.
“We will not use our skills as technologists to compromise core government systems, jeopardize Americans’ sensitive data, or dismantle critical public services,” the former employees wrote on Tuesday in a letter addressed to White House chief of staff Susie Wiles. “We will not lend our expertise to carry out or legitimize DOGE’s actions.”
The employees had worked at the U.S. Digital Service, which the Trump administration renamed the U.S. DOGE Service. Musk, the Tesla chief executive who is guiding DOGE, has sought to overhaul the federal government with cuts to the workforce, the elimination of diversity, equity and inclusion programs and the closure of agencies such as the U.S. Agency for International Development and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
The letter was earlier reported by the Associated Press. It followed Musk’s push to require federal workers to submit weekly progress reports—in five bullet points. The White House said Tuesday that one million workers responded to the email, or more than 40% of the federal workforce of roughly 2.3 million.
The ex-employees, who didn’t list their names, criticized the DOGE process, saying a day after President Trump’s inauguration they completed interviews with “individuals wearing White House visitor badges” who declined to identify themselves.
“This process created significant security risks,” they wrote. They said that the firing of one-third of the USDS colleagues on Feb. 14 endangered millions of Americans who rely on their services to modernize Social Security, veterans’ services and tax filing.
“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,’” they wrote.
Many of the employees who resigned had previously worked for tech companies, said one of the employees who resigned. The employees had served in roles such as engineers, data scientists, project managers and designers. Their work had spanned the first Trump administration, the Biden administration and the current White House, the employee said.
Write to Ken Thomas at ken.thomas@wsj.com
Twenty one federal employees who had been working with Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency resigned, writing in a letter that they wouldn’t offer their expertise to overhaul the government if it meant undermining essential services.
WASHINGTON—Twenty one federal employees who had been working with Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency resigned, writing in a letter that they wouldn’t offer their expertise to overhaul the government if it meant undermining essential services.
“We will not use our skills as technologists to compromise core government systems, jeopardize Americans’ sensitive data, or dismantle critical public services,” the former employees wrote on Tuesday in a letter addressed to White House chief of staff Susie Wiles. “We will not lend our expertise to carry out or legitimize DOGE’s actions.”
The employees had worked at the U.S. Digital Service, which the Trump administration renamed the U.S. DOGE Service. Musk, the Tesla chief executive who is guiding DOGE, has sought to overhaul the federal government with cuts to the workforce, the elimination of diversity, equity and inclusion programs and the closure of agencies such as the U.S. Agency for International Development and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
The letter was earlier reported by the Associated Press. It followed Musk’s push to require federal workers to submit weekly progress reports—in five bullet points. The White House said Tuesday that one million workers responded to the email, or more than 40% of the federal workforce of roughly 2.3 million.
The ex-employees, who didn’t list their names, criticized the DOGE process, saying a day after President Trump’s inauguration they completed interviews with “individuals wearing White House visitor badges” who declined to identify themselves.
“This process created significant security risks,” they wrote. They said that the firing of one-third of the USDS colleagues on Feb. 14 endangered millions of Americans who rely on their services to modernize Social Security, veterans’ services and tax filing.
“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,’” they wrote.
Many of the employees who resigned had previously worked for tech companies, said one of the employees who resigned. The employees had served in roles such as engineers, data scientists, project managers and designers. Their work had spanned the first Trump administration, the Biden administration and the current White House, the employee said.
Write to Ken Thomas at ken.thomas@wsj.com