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WASHINGTON --
More than 20 civilian work employees resigned Tuesday from billionaire Trump advisor Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency, saying they were refusing to usage their method expertise to "dismantle captious nationalist services."
"We swore to service the American radical and uphold our oath to the Constitution crossed statesmanlike administrations," the 21 staffers wrote successful a associated resignation letter, a transcript of which was obtained by The Associated Press. "However, it has go wide that we tin nary longer grant those commitments."
The employees besides warned that galore of those enlisted by Musk to assistance him slash the size of the national authorities nether President Donald Trump's medication were governmental ideologues who did not person the indispensable skills oregon acquisition for the task up of them.
Elon Musk clasp a chainsaw arsenic helium arrives to talk astatine CPAC, astatine the Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center, Thursday, Feb. 20, 2025, successful Oxon Hill, Md.
AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana
The wide resignation of engineers, information scientists and merchandise managers is simply a impermanent setback for Musk and the Republican president's tech-driven purge of the national workforce. It comes amid a flurry of tribunal challenges that person sought to stall, halt oregon unwind their efforts to occurrence oregon coerce thousands of authorities workers retired of jobs.
In a statement, White House property caput Karoline Leavitt was dismissive of the wide resignation.
"Anyone who thinks protests, lawsuits, and lawfare volition deter President Trump indispensable person been sleeping nether a stone for the past respective years," Leavitt said. "President Trump volition not beryllium deterred from delivering connected the promises helium made to marque our national authorities much businesslike and much accountable to the hardworking American taxpayers."
The staffers who resigned worked for what was erstwhile known arsenic the United States Digital Service, an bureau established during President Barack Obama's medication aft the botched rollout of Healthcare.gov, the web portal that millions of Americans usage to motion up for security plans done the Democrat's signature wellness attraction law.
All had antecedently held elder roles astatine specified tech companies arsenic Google and Amazon and wrote successful their resignation missive that they joined the authorities retired of a consciousness of work to nationalist service.
Trump's empowerment of Musk upended that. The time aft Trump's inauguration, the staffers wrote, they were called into a bid of interviews that foreshadowed the secretive and disruptive enactment of Musk's' Department of Government Efficiency, oregon DOGE.
According to the staffers, radical wearing White House visitors' badges, immoderate of whom would not springiness their names, grilled the nonpartisan employees astir their qualifications and politics. Some made statements that indicated they had a constricted method understanding. Many were young and seemed guided by ideology and fandom of Musk - not improving authorities technology.
"Several of these interviewers refused to place themselves, asked questions astir governmental loyalty, attempted to pit colleagues against each other, and demonstrated constricted method ability," the staffers wrote successful their letter. "This process created important information risks."
Earlier this month, astir 40 staffers successful the bureau were laid off. The firings dealt a devastating stroke to the government's quality to administer and safeguard its ain technological footprint, they wrote.
"These highly skilled civilian servants were moving to modernize Social Security, veterans' services, taxation filing, wellness care, catastrophe relief, pupil aid, and different captious services," the resignation missive states. "Their removal endangers millions of Americans who trust connected these services each day. The abrupt nonaccomplishment of their exertion expertise makes captious systems and American's information little safe."
Those who remained, astir 65 staffers, were integrated into DOGE's government-slashing effort. About a 3rd of them discontinue Tuesday.
"We volition not usage our skills arsenic technologists to compromise halfway authorities systems, jeopardize Americans' delicate data, oregon dismantle captious nationalist services," they wrote. "We volition not lend our expertise to transportation retired oregon legitimize DOGE's actions."
The slash-and-burn effort Musk is starring diverges from what was initially outlined by Trump during the 2024 statesmanlike campaign. DOGE, a motion to Musk's favourite cryptocurrency meme coin, was initially presented arsenic a blue-ribbon committee that would beryllium extracurricular government.
After the election, however, Musk hinted determination was much to come, posting to his societal media site, X, "Threat to democracy? Nope, menace to BUREAUCRACY!!!" He has leaned aggressively into the relation since.
Last week helium stood connected signifier astatine the Conservative Political Action Conference gathering extracurricular Washington, wherever helium boasted of his exploits and hoisted a blinged-out, Chinese-made chainsaw supra his caput that was talented by Argentinian President Javier Milei.
"This is the chainsaw for bureaucracy," Musk bellowed from the stage.
Still, Musk has tried to support method endowment successful place, with the bulk of the layoffs successful the Digital Service bureau focused connected radical successful roles similar designers, merchandise managers, quality resources and contracting staff, according to interviews with existent and erstwhile staff.
Of the 40 radical fto spell earlier this month, lone 1 was an technologist - an outspoken and politically progressive staffer sanction Jonathan Kamens, who said successful an interrogation with the AP that helium believes helium was fired for publically endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris, a Democrat, connected his idiosyncratic blog and being captious of Musk successful chats with colleagues.
"I judge that Elon Musk is up to nary good. And I judge that immoderate information that helium gains entree to is going to beryllium utilized for purposes that are inappropriate and harmful to Americans," Kamens said.
U.S. Digital Service veterans, who spoke connected the information of anonymity retired of fearfulness of reprisal, recalled experiencing a akin benignant of daze astir however authorities processes worked that Musk and his squad are discovering. Over time, galore developed an appreciation for wherefore definite things successful authorities had to beryllium treated with much attraction than successful the backstage sector.
"'Move accelerated and interruption things' whitethorn beryllium acceptable to idiosyncratic who owns a concern and owns the risk. And if things don't spell well, the harm is compartmentalized. But erstwhile you interruption things successful government, you're breaking things that beryllium to radical who didn't motion up for that," said Cordell Schachter, who until past period was the main accusation serviceman astatine the U.S. Department of Transportation.
USDS was established implicit a decennary agone to bash things similar improving services for veterans, and it helped make a escaped government-run portal truthful taxation filers did not person to spell done 3rd parties similar TurboTax. It besides devised systems to amended the mode the national authorities purchased technology.
It has been embroiled successful its just stock of bureaucracy fights and bureau turf wars with main accusation officers crossed authorities who resented interlopers treading successful their agency's systems. USDS' powerfulness crossed authorities stemmed from the imprimatur of acting connected behalf of the White House and its founding ngo of improving work for the American people.
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AP video writer Rodrique Ngowi contributed from Boston.
Copyright © 2025 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.
