Technical Workers Resign from DOGE

Engineers and Data Analysts Decline to Participate in Musk Mass Firings

The Associated Press has reported that 21 previous technical employees of the United States Digital Service, who were previously transferred to assist Elon Musk in his reign of terror on federal employees and budget axe cutting, have now resigned from DOGE in a joint resignation letter. They resigned as they did not want to be instruments to enable the DOGE mass firings and destruction of public services.

WASHINGTON (AP) — More than 20 civil service employees resigned Tuesday from billionaire Trump adviser Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency, saying they were refusing to use their technical expertise to “dismantle critical public services.”

“We swore to serve the American people and uphold our oath to the Constitution across presidential administrations,” the 21 staffers wrote in a joint resignation letter, a copy of which was obtained by The Associated Press. “However, it has become clear that we can no longer honor those commitments.”

The employees also warned that many of those enlisted by Musk to help him slash the size of the federal government under President Donald Trump’s administration were political ideologues who did not have the necessary skills or experience for the task ahead of them. …

The day after Trump’s inauguration, the staffers wrote, they were called into a series of interviews that foreshadowed the secretive and disruptive work of Musk’s’ Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE

According to the staffers, people wearing White House visitors’ badges, some of whom would not give their names, grilled the nonpartisan employees about their qualifications and politics. Some made statements that indicated they had a limited technical understanding. Many were young and seemed guided by ideology and fandom of Musk — not improving government technology.

This mass resignation raises many questions about DOGE and Elon Musk’s role in the effort. Media reports claim that Musk is the person making decisions about what programs to cut and who is to be fired. But the White House stated that Musk is not an employee of DOGE, and he does not have final decision making authority. But if not, they did not say who is actually in control of DOGE and who makes the final decisions. A veil of secrecy has been cast over DOGE so that the public does not know who is in charge, how decisions are made, what are the goals and priorities, and how does DOGE communicate to actual government agencies and departments that are really a part of the U.S. government.

First, what are the goals of DOGE? What are its priorities? What is deemed to be “waste, fraud and abuse?” Who decides what is wasteful, fraudulent or abusive? Does Musk make these decisions? Is one of his underlings the decider? Why is there no transparency for a mock government department, having no legal status and no actual Congressionally approved authority? Is the only authority for DOGE a Trump Executive Order, and does that Executive Order have the force of law?

Second, how is DOGE integrated into government decision making? Does DOGE make decisions on its own or does it need to get approval and sign-off by some other department or agency? What laws apply to DOGE? Are the DOGE employees paid by U.S. taxpayers?

The mass resignation letter describes a curious meeting when DOGE was formed where White House personnel conducted interviews of these technical civil service workers where they were asked about their former positions and their political affiliations. It seems that Trump is trying to keep DOGE employees out of Civil Service protections as they are being examined for their political affiliations.

Musk in a Twitter (X) post said these federal workers were probably Democrats who would have been fired even if they had not resigned. If so, Musk is operating in complete disregard for the Civil Service system which was designed to prevent Tammany Hall type hiring and firing of government employees. It also violates the First Amendment of the Constitution which prohibits government firings of nonpartisan employees for purely political reasons.

How does Musk (or the Secret DOGE Administrator, if it is not Musk) decide what is a valuable government program and what is not? How does it decide what is a valuable government job and what is not? What are the criteria?

Does DOGE respect the decisions of Congress on what should be funded? How and why does DOGE ignore the Impoundment Control Act of 1974?

Does DOGE have a goal for how many federal employees are to be fired?

Does DOGE consider the performance of federal employees before firing them?

These are all significant questions which in a well functioning democracy operating under the Constitution and laws of the United States would have answers. But this Wild West DOGE organization acts as if it is not bound by the Constitution and laws and can do whatever it pleases. That is not how the U.S. has operated since the founding. Lawless instrumentalities are not permitted here in the U.S. Despite Trump’s alignment with Putin and Russia, this is not Russia and Trump is not the king.

The actions of these technical employees, in announcing their mass resignation, may have done a great service if some of the questions it raises will finally be answered by Trump, Musk and DOGE. But they will have to be pressured to answer those questions as it is doubtful they will not do so voluntarily. Who will pressure them?