Do You Really Want to Work For Your Country? The Response to the 21 White House Employees whose Resignings Toked the Door to Their Jobs
“Their removal endangers millions of Americans who rely on these services every day. In the letter to Wiles, the employees who resigned wrote that the loss of technology expertise made critical systems and Americans’ data less safe.
The government has been cagey about who formally runs DOGE while leaving little doubt about who’s in charge. Leavitt and others have repeatedly identified Musk as overseeing DOGE’s overall operation. They said that he is merely a special government employee and not an official association with it.
In the letter addressed to White House Chief of Staff Susan Wiles, the government employees wrote that they swore an oath to the Constitution to serve the American people but that “it has become clear that we can no longer honor those commitments at the United States DOGE Service.”
“Don’t let the door kick you off the way out,” said the White House press secretary in response to the 21 DOGE workers resigning.
Over the weekend, Musk caused a lot of confusion by prompting the Office of Personnel Management to tell millions of government workers they had to account for what they did in the last week in order to keep their jobs. Musk indicated on X, the social media site he owns, that not responding could result in job loss.
Federal agencies gave differing advice to employees about whether they should respond to the OPM message. There is litigation about whether Musk, who is a senior adviser to the president, can make his own decisions.
The DOGE Hide-and-Seede Staff Cutoffs: A Call to the US Department of Energy and Industry to Explain What Elon Musk Wants
In their Tuesday letter, the DOGE employees noted that about 40 staffers in the office were laid off last week. They were working on improving the technical systems behind various government functions.
Among the 40 who were terminated earlier this month was an engineer for the DOGE who said he believes that he was targeted for endorsing Kamala Harris.
“The U.S. Digital Service spent more than a decade making government better to serve normal, everyday people,” Kamens told NPR. “Elon Musk doesn’t care about any of that. All he cares about is seizing power and making his obscene fortune even larger.”
On Friday, according to the letter, Musk’s lieutenants, some wearing White House visitor badges, refused to identify themselves and asked the staffers questions about their political loyalties and technical skills. “This process created significant security risks,” the group wrote in the letter.
Have information you want to share about the ongoing changes across the federal government? Bobby Allyn is available on the Signal messaging app.
The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) is a Possible Target for the Legal Challenges, Opposal, and the February 17th Call on Musk
is a senior tech and policy editor focused on VR, online platforms, and free expression. Adi has coverage of video games, biohacking, and more since 2011.
The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) was created by the White House. It was delivered by an unnamed White House official to CNBC and other media outlets, following obfuscation in courtrooms and the press. It designates him to be a likely target for the legal challenges over access to sensitive data and the freezing of government funds.
This goes further to statements made under oath in weeks of courtroom drama when many state attorneys general argue that the DOGE is operating illegally while the government tries to protect Musk. The February 17th filing claimed Musk’s authority in DOGE was questionable. The lawyer for the department of justice told a judge in February that he had no idea who the leader of the organization was.