A significant number of staff members at Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) have resigned in protest, citing their refusal to implement changes they believe could jeopardize the nation’s well-being. In a letter addressed to White House Chief of Staff Susan Wiles, 21 former DOGE employees expressed that their commitment to serve the American people and uphold the Constitution had been compromised, and they could no longer fulfill their duties.
The employees, originally from the United States Digital Service (USDS), had worked on crucial government projects until DOGE’s restructuring under the Trump administration in January, with Musk taking a central role in its operations. Although Musk is not the official head of DOGE, his role as a “special government employee” and “senior adviser to the president” has granted him significant influence, particularly in pushing for cuts to federal staffing and spending.
Despite Musk downplaying the resignations, calling the departing staff “political holdovers” resistant to returning to the office, the staff who resigned described a disorganized transition process and tensions that escalated when a third of the USDS staff were fired via an anonymous email on February 14. The dismissed employees were integral to services such as Social Security, veterans’ services, healthcare, tax filing, and disaster relief. The employees who resigned warned that the loss of these experts could endanger critical systems and American data security.
Under Musk’s influence, the USDS, originally created to improve government digital services, has shifted its focus towards reducing government staffing. The engineers at DOGE are reportedly developing software to make it easier to fire federal employees, particularly those with stronger civil service protections. These moves follow a previous email sent to two million federal workers, demanding they justify their roles or face termination—an email many government departments have advised staff to disregard.