The Fork of His Life in the Digital Service: Rejoind US Digital Service Employees During his First Day at the Fork
In an internal meeting following Carstensen’s departure, staff were told that he would not be replaced and that his responsibilities would be spread across the rest of the organization, a source said. Staff members lamented the state of the organization, fearing that Musk and his team were in full control after the departure of Carstensen.
The sentiment was shared by the broader USDS staff after Carstensen did not accept the “fork” deal. “There’s a strong feeling within USDS that people don’t want to take the fork because they don’t want to send the message that they’re somehow accepting or approving of the larger plan,” a USDS source said.
“This was not an easy decision for me to make as my time at the US Digital Service has been one of the best periods in my career. I believe wholeheartedly in the mission and have been inspired every day by the commitment, kindness, and intelligence of the team,” Carstensen wrote. “It was important for me to get the team to a place where everyone could choose their own path forward, which is where we find ourselves today. I look forward to seeing where you take yourself in the future, and I hope you end up on the path that is best for you.
In a resignation email viewed by WIRED, Carstensen confirmed that Thursday would be his final day. He said he wouldn’t be taking the deferred resignation offer, which was called the fork, after the email federal workers received last week offering continued pay and benefits through September 30.
DoGE Employees Know How to Read, Rewrite, and Use: A WIRED Observer’s View of the DOGE Insider Threat
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Although Treasury and White House officials have repeatedly denied it, WIRED has reported that DOGE technologists had the ability to not only read the code of sensitive payment systems but also rewrite it. A number of young men identified by WIRED who have little to no government experience are associated with DOGE and have been granted read and write privileges on two of the most sensitive systems in the US government.
Without new directives, USDS sources tell WIRED they’ve been operating as if things are “business as usual,” continuing work on long-term projects that have carried over from President Joe Biden’s administration.
The source said that the not showing up shows them they don’t give a good account of us. It’s the biggest ‘fuck you’ because we wait for them to come and they don’t.
The Department of Government Efficiency has built a “firewall” separating Elon Musk’s team from the 200 or so legacy workers employed by what was previously called the United States Digital Service (USDS), sources tell WIRED.
“There is reporting at other federal agencies indicating that DOGE members have performed unauthorized changes and locked civil servants out of the sensitive systems they gained access to,” the “Recommendations” portion of the email continues. We recommend that doge members be placed under threat monitoring after their access is revoked. Continued access to any payment systems by DOGE members, even ‘read only,’ likely poses the single greatest insider threat risk the Bureau of the Fiscal Service has ever faced.”
Wall Street Journal Reports on Elez’s Investigative Report in the Department of Economic and Social Sciences [Journal Public Affairs 73, 431-480]
Elez worked for both X and Musk’s space company. Elez resigned Thursday after The Wall Street Journal inquired with the White House about his connections to “a deleted social-media account that advocated for racism and eugenics.” Elez did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
A federal judge granted an order on February 6 to temporarily restrict DOGE staffers from accessing payment system information, as a result of this week’s Treasury lawsuit.
The recommendations were part of a weekly report sent out by the BFS threat intelligence team to hundreds of staffers. A source told WIRED that the threat intelligence team usually protectsInsider threat risks. The bureau has never identified something inside as an inside threat risk that I know of.