In a stunning move, over 20 civil service employees resigned from Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) on Tuesday, citing concerns that their expertise was being used to dismantle critical public services. The staffers, including engineers, data scientists, and product managers, expressed their refusal to aid in what they described as a politically-driven effort to reduce the size of the federal government under former President Donald Trump’s administration.
In a joint 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 honour those commitments.”
They voiced concerns about the recruitment of political ideologues with little technical expertise, adding that many of the new hires lacked the qualifications to effectively modernise essential government services.
The resignations come amid ongoing legal battles over the Trump administration’s efforts to restructure the federal workforce. The employees who resigned previously worked with the United States Digital Service (USDS), an office established during President Obama’s administration to address the failed rollout of Healthcare.gov. Many had senior roles in major tech companies like Google and Amazon, and they had joined the government with a sense of duty to improve public services.
Musk’s DOGE initiative, designed to overhaul government efficiency, was initially presented as a commission outside of the government. However, it has since grown into a more aggressive campaign to slash government operations. Musk has boasted about the effort at events like the Conservative Political Action Conference, where he called for the dismantling of “bureaucracy” with symbolic gestures like a chainsaw.
The resignation letter highlighted the impact of recent layoffs, warning that the loss of skilled staff would jeopardize critical systems such as Social Security, veterans’ services, and disaster relief. The staffers who remained emphasized that they would not contribute to efforts that compromise the safety and integrity of government data or services.
(Inputs from AP)