21 employees who were a part of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) mass quit their jobs, claiming that they could “no longer honor commitments” that they made while taking up their roles. In a joint letter obtained by various media outlets, including the Associated Press, the employees declared their resignation, hinting that issues are broiling within the Donald Trump Administration.
Issued on Tuesday, excerpts from the letter read, “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 honor those commitments. We will not use our skills as technologists to compromise core government systems, jeopardize Americans’ sensitive data, or dismantle critical public services. We will not lend our expertise to carry out or legitimize DOGE’s actions.”
The employees all belong to diverse professional backgrounds. The list of their roles includes product managers, data scientists, engineers, designers, and the division head of IT. They were all a part of the United States Digital Service (USDS), which eventually became the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
Elon Musk re-created his DOGE A.I. avatar in real-life today. pic.twitter.com/sgMsOrUPLB
— Patriot Dude Humor (@PatriotDHumor) February 22, 2025
All of them held senior roles at companies like Amazon and Google before they took up their roles at the USDS. They also revealed that before the transition to DOGE, the USDS office was visited by people who probed to find out their political ideologies and learning and were also inquisitive about their work experience.
The members who had resigned also mentioned the recent layoff of 40 DOGE employees in their letter, saying, “These highly skilled civil servants were working to modernize Social Security, veterans’ services, tax filing, health care, disaster relief, student aid, and other critical services. Their removal endangers millions of Americans who rely on these services every day. The sudden loss of their technology expertise makes critical systems and Americans’ data less safe.”
Commenting on the Associated Press article about the mass resignations, Elon Musk, widely considered the head of DOGE, said, “More fake news from Associated Propaganda. These were Dem political holdovers who refused to return to office. They would have been fired had they not resigned.”
More fake news from Associated Propaganda.
These were Dem political holdovers who refused to return to the office.
They would have been fired had they not resigned.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 25, 2025
Karoline Leavitt, the Donald Trump Administration’s press secretary also weighed in on the situation. “Anyone who thinks protests, lawsuits, and lawfare will deter President Trump must have been sleeping under a rock for the past several years. President Trump will not be deterred from delivering on the promises he made to make our federal government more efficient and more accountable to the hardworking American taxpayers,” Leavitt said.
Only 65 members were left at DOGE after the recent layoffs. With the mass resignation, their headcount has shrunk by a third of that number, bringing their workforce down to 44 active employees.
